


Fly By Night

by barefootblonde



Category: Sons of Anarchy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Arguing, Bikers, Canon-Typical Violence, Dirty Talk, Drama & Romance, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/M, Flirting, Hate to Love, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Jax Teller Being an Asshole, Love/Hate, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:07:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 36
Words: 359,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25669435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barefootblonde/pseuds/barefootblonde
Summary: It was supposed to be a simple business deal. The club was supposed to be on the right path now, with this new partnership and this new president. But thanks to a really stupid move on Luann's part, Jax finds himself on the wrong side of the negotiation table, with Opie's former step-sister on the other end.The club needs to adapt and pivot now in order to survive, even if it means striking a new kind of deal with a new kind of ally. He's just going to have to grin and bear it because he wants her almost as badly as he needs her on their side.
Relationships: Jax Teller/Original Character(s), Jax Teller/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 172
Kudos: 237





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's been at least 7-8 years since I've written a fanfic for Sons of Anarchy and I guess I just missed it, you know? For now the rating has more to do with the circumstances of their business deal than any actual content, but it will "earn" it's rating in later chapters, if you know what I mean (I'll add some tags later to reflect that). I should probably mention that I haven't watched the show since it ended, and I'm not planning to follow any of the show's major plot lines, other than grabbing some characters and familiar settings when it works. I really hope you enjoy this - I've had a great time getting back into the swing of things and I hope it shows!

_ Fly by Night: (adj) a person who is unreliable or untrustworthy, unless they want something; one that seeks to evade responsibilities; one without established reputation or standing; given to making a quick profit usually by shady or irresponsible acts; a person who flees at night to evade creditors or the law _

**Chapter One**

Wind in his hair, fresh air in his lungs, the freedom of the open road in front of him - that should've been enough. That _used_ to be enough. Today was a beautiful September afternoon, with a warm breeze sweeping around his face, heating and cooling it at the same time. That should've been enough too. He used to appreciate those kinds of things because they were the kinds of things that made the ugly in his life a little bit easier to swallow.

Six months inside wasn't the longest stint he'd ever done, and it wouldn't be his last either, but it had irrevocably altered the course of his life. Five Samcro brothers had gone inside Stockton, and at the end of those six months, only four had come out.

It didn't help that after this meeting was over, he'd have to go home. He could stall at the clubhouse and no one would be the wiser, save for his mother, but that would just prolong the inevitable. He'd made the mistake of promising he would come home and that he wouldn't spend the night at the clubhouse.

So he'd go home. They'd fight. She'd cry. Probably throw something at his head. Not like he wouldn't deserve it.

And it didn't change the fact that he just didn't want to be there. Hell, he didn't really want to be anywhere anymore.

At least, he mused as he pulled his bike to a stop, this meeting was a temporary distraction from the disaster that was his life. He swung a leg over the side of his bike, adjusted his cut on reflex, and nodded to Opie, who fell into step next to him.

Jax glanced over his shoulder and shook his head.

"You think it was really a good idea to let those two tag along for this?" he gestured with his head to the two figures trailing behind them.

Opie's eyes darted over his shoulder, and he just shrugged. "Dunno, but I guess if anyone's gonna negotiate an agreement, they're as motivated as any."

True, but Jax still didn't quite trust that this was the best play. This meeting needed to go smoothly, and it needed to end peacefully with at least a compromise, if not a full-fledged agreement, on the table. Bobby and Piney each had a vested interest in this deal, but so did Ope. Too many cocks in the hen house wouldn't do any of them any good, and it definitely wouldn't get anyone to sign on the dotted line.

So he pushed through the double doors of Sweet Productions with his guard high. There were too many variables, too many ways this could go south fast, and then the club would be one step further away from its end goal. Or, really, _his_ end goal. This merger was a means to an end and the two old cuts trailing behind him threatened the tentative balance they'd struck just by being here.

Jax's eyes widened a little as he took in the studio around him. With the way Luann had talked up this space, with its supposed "state of the art" filming and editing equipment, he figured she had to be exaggerating. There was no way something like that existed in the porn industry, but then again, his only real experience in this was through Cara Cara. And this place made Cara Cara look like a low-grade hostel.

He found Opie's gaze and let out a low whistle.

Exaggerating Luann was not.

Despite the barely-dressed women, and some men, strutting around the place, it still managed to have the air of professionalism and more surprisingly, cleanliness. The floors even seemed to sparkle. Even more telling - there were no sets in sight, which was a far cry from the in-your-face atmosphere that assaulted the senses the second you stepped foot on Cara Cara's production floor. Jesus, maybe they were really onto something here. His palms got a little sweaty just at the thought.

This meeting had to go the right way. They had to make this deal.

"Well," Piney's gruff, grumpy voice echoed behind him. "Jimmy always was a goddamn showman. Can't say I'm all that surprised he rolled out the big guns for this."

Opie pushed out a rough sigh and shot Jax an exasperated glance before telling his dad over his shoulder, "You sure you're gonna be able to keep your shit together, old man? Or do we need to find you a babysitter?"

As if on cue, Jimmy Sweet materialized from inside a long, brightly-lit hallway, dressed in a full suit that reeked of filthy wealth, and he smiled just as brightly as his hallway. Full set of white teeth and all.

Piney huffed a little, and Jax could practically feel the old man bristle behind him just at the sight of Jimmy Sweet in his fancy grey suit and slicked back hair. It was looking more and more like bringing along Piney's dead weight was a bad call. Bobby was still up in the air, but Jax wasn't holding his breath. He'd told the table as much, but a vote was a vote and Bobby and Piney had done the obvious thing and voted for themselves, which had created a tie. So Jax begrudgingly agreed to let the two most senior club members at the table have their way.

For now.

On reflex, and to keep this fragile peace, Jax thrust out a hand to Jimmy.

"Good to see you again," Jax nodded to him diplomatically as they shook hands. Some of the tension melted away when Jimmy returned the gesture, as cordial as ever, even if it was manufactured.

"You as well, Mr. Teller. Allie should be right down, so if you don't mind, we can head right to my office while we wait," Jimmy smiled goodnaturedly, once again baring his teeth ever-so-subtly right at Piney.

And just like that, the tension flared. Jax didn't even have a chance to process that first part.

Opie quickly swooped in to intervene, shaking hands with his former stepfather and trading niceties. After Bobby stepped in to do his part, Piney hung back, refusing to play this game. It was probably better anyway if they all gave up the cordial pretenses and just got down to business instead.

Jimmy, clearly sensing the shift, gestured to a door down the hallway. "My office is this way."

They followed him in silence down the hallway, passing a few of the 'actors' on their way to the set. The slutty cop costumes were distracting enough and even though they all had eyes, Bobby's were the only ones who drifted out of focus just long enough to get a good eyeful. They weren't here for that. And Bobby, for all his flaws, knew better than to mess around with Luann's competition, at least while Sweet Productions was still considered competition.

Jimmy led them to an expansive office space at the end of the hallway, complete with a grand display of graphic movie posters and all the awards he'd managed to collect over the years. As if on cue, the tell-tale click of high heels echoed down the hallway just as they filed into Jimmy's office. Jax dropped into the first chair he saw across from Jimmy's desk, feeling his blood pressure tick up with every click of those heels. Jimmy hadn't exactly said outright whether his daughter - and in-house counsel - would be joining them for this meeting, and Jax hadn't asked. Seeing as how they'd been generously footing Luann's legal bills during these negotiations and that the club's own lawyer charged nearly $500 an hour, Jax had hoped they could settle this on their own. But, seeing as how Luann's biggest hang-ups involved the legal end of this deal, it would've been stupid of Jimmy not to have his lawyer present. And now, Jax was feeling more than a little stupid himself for skirting around the issue.

Still, it would've been nice if there was one less person in this room. And still, as Allie weaved around all the cuts to make her way over to her dad's desk, Jax's gaze followed her every movement. She hadn't really changed that much since the last time he'd seen her at Opie and Lyla's wedding, and that was three years ago now. Her dark hair was a little shorter than he remembered, and she was wearing a silky cream button-up tucked into a black high-waist leather skirt. This professional, yet porn industry-approved, look suited her. And still, her presence in this room was just as irritating as it was distracting.

The last thing Jax needed today was an entitled know-it-all waving her degrees in his face like it was going out of style.

Allie easily found Opie through the small crowd that had gathered in the office, and the former step-siblings shared a good-natured wave. But when her dark eyes dropped to Jax, the warmth in them shifted to something frostier and a little bit harder. Good.

She nodded to him and he returned the gesture - it was better to acknowledge each other's presence anyway - and then Allie stepped around the desk to take her place next to her dad.

Jimmy cleared his throat as he sank down into his chair and flashed them a smile. "Thank you for meeting with me. I know this probably isn't exactly an ideal situation - for any of us really - given our, uh, _history."_

Out of the corner of his eye, Jax watched Piney carefully, ready to play referee the second the old man showed any signs of going over the edge. So far so good.

 _History,_ of course, was just a nice little euphemism for animosity and antagonism. Right around the time Opie and Jax started middle school, Piney and Opie's mom, Mary, began to fight like cats and dogs where anyone and everyone could see them, especially in the clubhouse. It wasn't exactly a secret that Piney indulged in croweaters and didn't exactly care too much that he had a wife and kid at home either.

They somehow managed to keep it together for a time right up until Mary walked in on Piney going to town on a croweater in a dark corner of the clubhouse. Piney tried to convince Mary that he'd changed, or at least _would_ change, for their family, for their marriage, but she'd already moved on to Jimmy Levy, who at that time was still going by his given name rather than his professional one.

Mary married Jimmy six months to the day after Piney came knocking at her door, pleading with her to give him another chance. And neither of them would ever let the other forget it. Of course, Mary kicked Jimmy to the curb about 10 years later when she met husband number three, but the wounds still ran deep. Piney would never admit it even if you held a gun to his head, but it was clear he still held a torch for his ex-wife. Jimmy, on the other hand, would probably hand that admission over willingly and happily, just to stick it in Piney's craw.

"Right," Jax grinned tightly, shooting his vice president a quick glance as they sank into the chairs on the other side of Jimmy's office, with the dead weight taking their places behind them. "Listen, why don't we just get right to it?"

Jimmy nodded and clasped his hands together in front of him, leaning forward ever so slightly and cocking his head to the side. "That sounds like a good idea."

Jax cast one more glance at Opie out of the corner of his eye before mirroring Jimmy's movements. He even let a smile spread across his face for good measure. This carefully-constructed cool demeanor, though, hinged on keeping his focus squarely on Jimmy, and not the woman hovering next to him.

"So," Jax started easily. "I think it goes without saying that the club plans to be a silent partner in this deal."

"Of course," Jimmy nodded.

Allie nodded too, but Jax chose to ignore that.

"And we have no plans to get involved in the day-to-day operations," he continued, "other than to check in from to time to make sure everything's goin' okay."

"And, of course," Jimmy gestured with a perfectly manicured hand to where Bobby sat behind Jax. "You'll be having your numbers man check in from time to time as well."

Jax just shrugged. "I think that goes without saying."

Jimmy didn't miss a beat. "Right. Just as I'll have my business manager and in-house counsel keep tabs on your side of things as well."

He gestured with a flourish to his daughter, who stared back at Jax with a ghost of a smile on her lips.

A slow, cocky grin slid over Jax's face as he slipped into negotiation mode. "That sounds fair to me. Now, where we _do_ plan to get involved is ironing out the partnership agreement - the same one you sent back to Luann's lawyer marked up to hell."

Now it was Jimmy's turn to grin, but his lips spread apart in a slithery expression that had Jax shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "Well, I wouldn't be sitting where I'm sitting if my attorney didn't scrutinize everything that came across this desk with an eagle eye."

Jax didn't miss the way Jimmy's eyes flicked up to Piney, who was standing behind Opie. Jimmy cocked an eyebrow ever so slightly, as if to remind Piney of some innuendo, some shared history that Jax wanted nothing to do with. This was all going to go off the rails real quick if Piney couldn't keep his shit together.

"I understand," Jax pressed on quickly. "And Luann looked over your edits and, well, she didn't agree with you."

Jimmy just lifted a nonchalant shoulder. "So you'd like to smooth things over, I'm guessing? Hammer out the details?"

Jax grinned, and this time, he bared his teeth. "Somethin' like that, yeah. Considering you completely changed the terms of the agreement. Last I checked, this was supposed to be a partnership, not a hostile takeover."

Allie let out a deep breath from the other side of the desk, shifting ever so slightly to hitch a hand on her hip in frustration. The movement was just enough to distract Jax, to hedge his focus away from his target so that it landed right on the spot where her palm connected to her leather skirt. And that momentary lapse in judgement was the opportunity she needed to pounce.

"Allllright," Allie drawled as the hand on her hip drifted down to the desk. Her voice was light, as if this entire exchange was amusing to her - and he figured it was - but now, as her eyes narrowed in his direction, it was clear that play time was over.

"Look, guys," she pressed on. "I thought _my_ edits were fair. Not to mention necessary. We wanted to show some good faith and let you - sorry, Luann - drive the negotiations by taking the first shot at the agreement. And her first shot was...lacking, at best, and financially and ethically irresponsible at worst, but you knew that already."

Jax's eyes narrowed, and he leaned forward with just enough menace to let her know he wasn't playing around anymore either. "Financially and ethically irresponsible? I read that agreement myself before the lawyer sent it your way, and everything seemed legit to me."

Allie's lips curled up condescendingly, and he could practically hear the thoughts running through her head. _Right, it all seemed legit to you because_ you're _the lawyer in this room._ But in his defense, the club's lawyer had looked over all the documents and Rosen agreed that Luann's first draft was fair and, for all intents and purposes, pretty standard stuff. Jax had even compared the partnership agreement with the one Rosen had drafted a few years ago when the club expanded T-M. The initial draft of the agreement between Cara Cara and Sweet Productions, with the club as the silent partner, had seemed pretty straightforward, with each party taking its fair cut of the profits and maintenance costs and none of the parties liable to the others, and he'd been more than surprised when Luann told him Allie had sent it back to her lawyer with pages and pages of edits. A few edits here and there, sure, but pages of them? Not to mention the fact that Allie's changes had all but turned the deal into a full-blown buyout, rather than what everyone had already agreed on.

"I would've agreed with you _before_ we received the results of our audit," Allie replied coolly. "After that, there was no way we could realistically move forward without making significant changes to our initial agreement."

"And why is that?" he shot back.

He didn't appreciate what she was insinuating - that Sweet Productions was somehow the most squeaky-clean of the three parties involved. That the club was somehow trying to pull something unsavory in what was supposed to be a legitimate business deal.

Allie tucked some of her dark hair behind her ear, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop his eyes from following the movement. As soon as her hand stilled, his attention snapped back to focus.

"Are you serious, Jax?" she just stared back at him, her eyebrows furrowed into a tight line in her forehead. "Luann can't have her cake and eat it too. Not after the safety violations, let alone the herpes outbreak that we -"

"What the hell are you talkin' about?" he growled.

That brought everything to a screeching halt. Allie reared back like he'd just sprouted a second head, glancing down at her dad with her eyebrows practically glued to her hairline. They exchanged a look that sent something dark and bitter to the pit of his stomach. Allie's eyes shifted back to Jax, and she watched him for a long beat before recognition, mixed with some frustration and maybe a little bit of pity, flickered across her face.

"I explained all this already when I emailed back my comments on the agreement to Luann and her attorney," Allie stated flatly. "I also made it clear that we weren't comfortable moving forward unless she agreed to let us oversee all safety protocols on set."

After a pause, and after he failed to come up with the words to respond, she spoke again.

"She didn't tell you, did she?"

He just stared back at her, acutely aware of the way Opie and the brothers behind them shifted uncomfortably in their seats. When he didn't respond, she flipped a thick manila folder open on the desk and sifted through a large stack of paperwork before pulling a section out of the pile and slid it toward him.

Jax snatched the papers off the desk, skimming the report as soon as his fingertips touched it. He shifted just enough so that Opie could read over his shoulder, and with every line he read, the more his entire body coiled and simmered. He'd been aware Sweet Productions had audited Cara Cara as a condition of their agreement. The club - and Rosen - hadn't objected because it seemed reasonable, even though Luann had hemmed and hawed, coming up with excuse after excuse to push the date of the audit back. He'd taken her excuses at face value because, at the time, they'd had no reason to believe otherwise. Now, he knew better.

He'd also stayed on top of Luann, almost to the point of badgering her, to make sure she shared the results with the club the second she got them. When Luann passed the report along, he and Bobby read through every line so many times he practically had the thing memorized. Rosen had also agreed that everything seemed up to par. He had not, however, seen these particular pages in the report Luann had given them.

"Jax," Allie started again. This time, her voice was a little softer, a little more hesitant than it had been before. "We've worked very hard to maintain safety and testing protocols so that every single one of our actors feels safe and protected in this environment. We don't cut corners and we don't take this lightly. Any potential risk - and I mean _any risk_ \- to our actors and we shut down production immediately until the issue has been resolved to our standards. Given the fact that Luann has been cutting corners at every turn, letting testing and vaccine deadlines lapse months, sometimes _years_...not having condoms available every day on every set...letting actors film without protection...there are so many OSHA violations here, I've lost count."

Jax swallowed hard. His gaze drifted back down to the missing pages from the report in his hands, that pit in his stomach snowballing into a full-blown anvil. Daring a glance at his VP didn't help things either - Opie's face had gone sheet-white and he looked like he might actually vomit all over Jimmy's shiny office floor.

He didn't doubt for a second that Allie had done her due diligence and pried through every nook and cranny of Cara Cara before serving up her report. And, according to her report, two of Luann's girls had said they'd had herpes a month ago. Before that, there was a chlamydia outbreak five months prior, and yet another herpes outbreak two months before that. And that was just in this past year alone. He hadn't even turned a page in the stack Allie had given him.

Judging by the panicked and stupified expression flickering across Opie's face, this was news to him too. Of course, if Opie had known, the club would've known too, but that still only meant one of two things: either Lyla had never shared this information with him or she'd never known at all.

From where Jax was standing, it was one thing for a wife to hide something like that from her husband. An employer failing to share it with her employees, and knowingly putting them at risk...that was a whole other ballgame. And he had a pretty good feeling Lyla wasn't the liar here.

"Look," Allie pushed on. "Our interest in Cara Cara is pretty simple. Luann has a lot of popular titles and a lot of popular actors. That's important to us too. But it's not more important than our actors' safety."

He found himself nodding because in spite of everything, she was right. As much as he hated to admit it. And here he was, completely out-manned and out-gunned, and he was the one who'd brought the most backup to their little party. That was not something he was used to feeling. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been on this side of the negotiation table, and the worst part? Allie hadn't even been _trying_ to one up him. Her presence at this meeting had only been to represent her dad and protect their business - not to rip the rug out from under him just because she could. It was clear that both Jimmy and Allie believed he'd had all the facts before coming down here.

And he'd thought he'd had them all too. He'd spent hours going over Cara Cara's financial statements with Bobby, talking through the potential risks versus the potential gains for the club if they moved forward, and he'd read through that damn partnership agreement at least ten times. He'd thought he was ready to come into this meeting with guns blazing, armed with the knowledge that Sweet Productions didn't have a leg to stand on.

As it turned out, Luann had shot him in the foot before he even stepped inside the studio. The club had taken her at her word - _he_ had taken her at her word - that she was giving them all the facts because she was legacy. Because her old man was sitting in a cell for the club for the rest of his life. They'd let her take the lead on this deal out of loyalty. They'd shown up here today on her behalf out of loyalty. And they had expected loyalty in return.

And as the wheels in his head turned, it became clear the club really only had one way forward, whether he liked it or not.

"Mind if I hang onto these?" Jax gestured toward the stack of papers in his hand.

Allie just shrugged and glanced at her dad, who followed her lead with another shrug. "Sure."

"And would you mind givin' me a copy of that email you sent Luann before we head out?"

She just lifted a shoulder again. "Sure."

Jax pushed out a deep breath. The words wouldn't feel good, but he had to do it anyway.

"So," he started roughly. "Let's say, hypothetically speaking, that we were able to get Luann under control."

Jimmy cocked an eyebrow at him and leaned back in his chair. "Get her under control? How exactly do you plan to do that?"

Jax shifted just enough to catch Opie's attention. After a wordless exchange, Opie nodded in agreement.

"That's for us to figure out," Opie replied, twisting his SO ring around his finger as he spoke.

"And," Jax added, "we _will_ figure it out. After these issues are taken care of, would you be open to taking another look at this partnership deal?"

He waited, letting Jimmy and Allie have their own silent exchange. After a somewhat tense exchange, Allie let out a long breath and turned her attention back to their would-be partners sitting across the office. She seemed to waver just a little, as if she wasn't quite sure getting into bed with them this way was really the right call after all.

"Well," Allie finally allowed. "I suppose we still might be able to come to some sort of...mutually beneficial agreement."

Jax shot her a cocky, lop-sided grin. "Perfect. That's just what I wanted to hear, darlin'."

He didn't miss the way her eyes narrowed at his words, and he didn't really care either. She could save the feminist rant for another day - he wanted to get the hell out of there. Glancing at his VP and his brothers sitting behind him, they took his cue and rose to leave. And because this was a business meeting after all, he reached out to shake Jimmy's hand before they left.

When his hand closed around Allie's much smaller one, Jax finally let his gaze hit her square in the eye. He squeezed her hand and winked at her for good measure, smirking as her lips parted in disbelief.

"I'll be in touch with our new terms."

Allie squared her shoulders pin straight with steely resolve. His hand was still clasped around hers, and he gave it another tight squeeze just because he could.

"Good," she shot back coolly. "And if your terms are reasonable, I'm happy to redraft the agreement."

He just winked at her again. "Lookin' forward to it."

* * *

Allie leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, and kicked off her heels. God, her toes were practically screaming they were so numb. She sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes. If she kept her eyes closed a little bit longer, calm would return. Peace would return. She could go about the rest of her day like nothing happened. Three, two, one...exhale.

Okay, so maybe she was going to have to go a bit deeper than some calming exercises to regain her bearings.

A line of motorcycles peeked out from the corner of her office window, and just as some black leather entered her peripheral, she launched out of her chair and slapped the blinds shut. She'd seen enough black leather cuts today to last a lifetime. Unfortunately, judging by the determination on Jax's face right before he walked out of her dad's office, she was going to be seeing more of them around here whether she liked it or not.

Having more opportunities to see Opie, getting to know Lyla better...those were benefits she wouldn't deny.

Inviting a motorcycle club into the business that was more known for its criminal activities than its motorcycle enthusiasm was definitely not a benefit. It was more like a liability, but Allie had given up trying to talk her dad out of this deal a long time ago. He wanted what he wanted, and what he wanted right now was a piece of Cara Cara.

While he'd sworn up and down this deal had nothing to do with past history, his attitude at the meeting just now said otherwise.

It looked like they needed to have a conversation about that. Especially since she was 100 percent certain Jax would be contacting her by the end of the week with a whole new set of terms to negotiate.

She still couldn't believe Luann had played those games with the club. What was Luann thinking? Hadn't she been around the club for literal decades? And honestly, how could she think the club never would've found out about the health and safety portion of Cara Cara's audit?

Obviously, Luann Delaney wasn't really someone they wanted to go into business with. She'd have to have a conversation with her dad about that too. And just as she let out yet another deep, calming breath, her office door creaked open.

Allie blew out the breath she'd been holding and squeezed her eyes shut. Best to just get this over with. "You can come in now."

The door burst open half a second later and by the time she opened her eyes, lunch and a coffee mug was sitting on her desk. Her best friend stood across from the desk with his hands propped underneath his chin expectantly. They stared at each other for a beat before Allie rolled her eyes with a huff.

"Alexandra."

"Daniel," she replied lightly, gripping the coffee mug with both hands and inhaling the sweet, sweet smell of caffeine.

Dan wiggled his dark eyebrows at her, a sly smile creeping across his handsome face. "So."

It never failed to amaze her - he must've been a witch in another life with his ability to get her to comply so easily and so quickly. It was the gift that just kept on giving for him.

"It's over," she allowed. "That's all that matters."

His eyes lifted to the ceiling dramatically. "And..."

"And we didn't get anywhere."

That wasn't completely true. Jax had had his come to Jesus moment where Luann was concerned, apparently, and there was a tiny part of her that felt a little sympathy for the way he'd been played. Then again, it wasn't her fault the club had decided to take a back seat in the negotiations and only stepped in when Luann obviously went crying to them about how unfairly she was being treated by the big, bad competition.

What had Jax called it...a _hostile takeover_? Was that really the way Luann had framed it?

It was clear Jax had done his homework before their meeting, and she had to admit - albeit begrudgingly - that it wasn't completely his fault he hadn't had all the information. You don't know what you don't know, and Jax and the club had obviously trusted Luann to do right by them. If they were going to move forward, it was better everyone knew what she was capable of now, before any paperwork was signed, so they could nip it in the bud before the problem got worse. The role Sweet Productions was going to play in this scenario still remained to be seen, but she had a feeling her dad would be willing to jump through all kinds of hoops to get his hands on Cara Cara.

But if it were up to her, they would've walked away the second they found out about all of Luann's terrifyingly negligent indiscretions. Allie didn't want to touch Cara Cara with a ten-foot pole, mainly, because of the work it would take her to clean up Luann's mess.

"What do you mean you didn't get anywhere?" Dan shot back, rearing his head back in faux surprise. "You were locked away in that office with all those...those scruffy _hooligans_ \- and your dad - for like, _ten whole minutes_."

His lips curled mischievously as his eyebrows danced up and down his forehead. To add insult to injury, Dan flitted over to the window and pulled a few slots of the blinds down to get a nice long look.

"So which one was your step-brother?"

Allie blew out an exasperated breath. Was this all she was going to accomplish today? Deep and frustrated exhales? Dan wasn't going to let this go. He'd scour every last dark and dirty corner of the internet to find a picture of Opie if he had to. Might as well give the terrorist what he wanted and get it over with.

She gingerly approached the window, careful to keep herself out of view, and glanced at the small group of overly-macho men huddled around a line of souped-up Harleys. The fact that all four men had grim, almost worried, expressions on their faces as they had their pow-wow was a small victory. Probably the only one she was going to get today.

Allie gestured with her chin toward Opie. "The Big Foot in the black beanie. That's him."

Dan nodded in approval. "Well, would ya look at that. You know, maybe I should tell your dad it's finally time we indulged in a biker-themed -"

"Don't say it," Allie cut him off, giving him a little shove. "I swear to God."

"Fine," Dan just lifted a shoulder as he pulled the blinds down a little further. "Suit yourself. I'll just keep my fantasies to myself then."

"Good."

"Although," Dan's lips curled again as he spoke. "I must admit those two are going to be giving me _plenty_ of ammunition for a while, if you know what I mean."

"Who? The fat one or the fat one with all the hair? Ew, Daniel. Just...ew."

He shot her a knowing sideways glance and patted her head. "Look at you. Being all deflective. With your lame attempt at humor. And those cheeks all rosy and flushed."

Allie narrowed her eyes, reached across the window, and promptly smacked the blinds out of his hand so they snapped back into place.

"Hey!"

"That's enough out of you," Allie shot back. "Did you come in here just to antagonize me or do you actually have a purpose for being here?"

"Well, isn't that just snippy and petty? Not to mention uncalled for?"

She just rolled her eyes and gestured to her lunch, which was still waiting for her on the desk. "I'm starving. And I have a million things I need to take care of before I can leave today. Can we please not do this right now?"

"Fine. But when I get home tonight, you will -"

"When you get home tonight, I'll be sitting in a nice, hot bath."

Dan held up a hand in defeat. "Stewing is more like it," he muttered bitchily.

Still, he knew better than to interrupt the one nighttime ritual she held sacred. It was the only way she had a shot at a decent night's sleep without having to eat a handful of melatonin-laced gummies and hope for the best, or worse, swallowing a pill and falling into bed like a dead log.

When the roar of Harley engines bounced off the walls, Dan rushed back to the window for another look. As the four Harleys pulled away from the studio's parking lot, with Jax out in front of course, he finally let the blinds slide back into place.

"Well," Dan mused. "I don't know about you, but I thoroughly enjoyed that."

This time, Allie patted him on the shoulder. "Of course you did."

* * *

By the time Allie lowered down into the steaming water, her body was just about spent. Her entire day had revolved around one meeting - before it, she hadn't been able to eat. Had barely been able to choke down her coffee. Had barely even been able to sit still. When it was over, she couldn't stop herself from replaying every single and every word that was said, combing through all the details and ridiculously, compulsively focusing far too long on the end of the meeting, when Samcro's president had winked at her not once, but twice, and referred to her as _darlin'_.

Just thinking about it now made her blood boil.

She closed her eyes and exhaled the tension. This was supposed to be a happy place. A safe place. Definitely not a place where she fantasized about yanking that smug asshole by his stupid, perfect hair and drowning him in her lavender-scented bath water.

 _That_ would be excessive.

The rest of her day had been focused on finding some kind of balance again. She'd thought a long run would help, but all that did was clear her mind for an hour and beat up her body. She'd tried to unwind with some _Netflix and chill_ as Dan lovingly called it, but she'd spent more time scrolling through the millions and millions of options before finally deciding not to decide at all. She'd tried to cook dinner, but she'd never really been that great of a cook to begin with, and Dan, who was far more culinary-inclined, had another late night at the studio ahead of him.

So, she'd settled for an early soak in the tub, hoping the water would melt all her cares away. So far, it was sort of working and that was all she could ask for.

When her fingers started to prune up and the water cooled, it was time to face reality again. She took her time drying off, reveling in the luxury of fluffy white bath towels and her silky robe for as long as she could. And as it turned, she'd been right to take her sweet time because when she pushed open her bedroom door, her roommate was already sitting on her bed, twirling her phone in his hands.

"Hi," he grinned.

"Hello, Daniel."

He perched a fist under his chin as he watched her move around the room, as if pretending he wasn't there would somehow make him disappear into thin air. Instead of disappearing, her phone pinged in his hand.

Allie whirled around from her dresser and held out a hand expectantly. Instead, Dan glanced down at her phone. When their eyes met again, his expression had morphed into a thin, somber line. Her heart sank into her stomach and she swallowed hard.

"What does she want this time?"

Dan flashed her a sympathetic grin and shrugged. "I think you already know."

Yeah, she did. It was just going to have to wait until tomorrow morning. Allie didn't think she could handle having to put out yet another fire today. So, for about the millionth time that day, she deflected.

"I thought you were going to be at the studio for most of the night."

Dan just lifted a shoulder. "Things finished up a little earlier than planned."

"Got it."

He just stared back at her. The longer they stared, the higher his eyebrows lifted into his forehead in anticipation.

"I've been patiently waiting all day."

Allie took a deep breath. "Yes, I know. I'd really like to put this off for as long as I can though."

He cocked his head to one side, shooting her a sympathetic, yet amused smile. "Yes, I know. But you can't. And I know there's some deep, dark part of you that can't wait either."

Maybe he was right. Besides, there weren't many places she could hide where he wouldn't find her. They worked in the same studio and lived in the same house. It was a lost cause. So, she dropped down onto her bed, letting her body finally rest as her best friend mirrored her movements until they were shoulder to shoulder.

After giving herself a moment, Allie finally said the words out loud. "I have a really bad feeling we're about to get into business with a motorcycle club."

"But weren't you already though? I thought that -"

"That was different," she shook her head. "We were _supposed_ to be making a deal with Cara Cara. The club was only going to be Luann's silent backers in the deal so they could take their cut. That was fine - everything was separated the way it was supposed to be. And then Luann had to go and ruin everything."

Even now, she didn't quite understand why her dad had insisted on handling the negotiations so backhandedly. As soon they got the audit back, Allie had wanted to call the whole deal off, or, at the very least, called Luann's attorney to let them know they couldn't continue negotiating the current terms as they stood. Her dad, however, had insisted they needed to send Luann a message that they weren't playing around. That they wouldn't let her mistakes sully their business. Allie had figured Luann would flatly refuse the new terms and the whole thing would be dead in the water anyway.

"What do you mean?"

"Luann conveniently forgot to give Samcro the health and safety portion of our audit," Allie sighed as Dan's eyes practically bugged out of his head.

"Oh my God. Well, what's gonna happen now? Do you think they're going to... _Adrianna_ her or something?"

Allie huffed out a laugh. "You really need to lay off _The Sopranos_ , you know that? There are so many other good TV shows out there. I don't know why you insist on watching it over and over again."

Dan just waved a hand at her in dismissal. "Stop. Deflecting. You didn't answer my question."

"Fine," she blew out a breath. "No, I don't think they're going to _Adrianna_ her. I don't think they do things like that. Or, at least, I hope they don't. Jax said they were going to get her under control, whatever that means, but she's been married to one of the club's members for years, so I doubt they'll do it violently."

"Ah yes," Dan's eyes fluttered shut dreamily. "That hot, sex-on-two-legs president. I'm sure it was a _pleasure_ to see him again, wasn't it?"

Allie turned her head to face Dan head-on and shot him a knowing smirk. "He's not exactly on my top 10 list of people I was hoping to spend any significant amount of time with, so no."

"Well, if all of us could just find a way to overcome our old high school biases and dramas, the world would be a less evil and bitter place."

"Oh boy," Allie laughed. "I told you - we just didn't...run in the same crowd in high school. That's all."

"Sure," Dan allowed. "But if I remember right, there was also a hint of, dare I say, embarrassment that your step-brother was part of a motorcycle _gang_ and maybe even a little more embarrassment that you spent most of your formidable high school years pretending you didn't have a crush on your step-brother's best friend."

Allie shot him a pointed look. "Everybody - and I mean _everybody_ \- had a thing for Jax Teller in high school, whether they wanted to or not. It was impossible to look at him and not immediately have to change your panties. I wasn't immune. So sue me, okay?"

"And now?" he cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Now I consider myself thoroughly inoculated."

"Ah, yes," Dan was just about to continue when her phone pinged in his hand again. He glanced down at the text message, and his eyes flashed with excitement. Before she had a chance to stop him, he shoved the phone in her face, leaving her no choice but to read the message.

_Got our new terms. Call me asap._

Jax didn't even bother to identify himself in the message. Of course Allie would know it was him. That self-righteous son of a bitch...how was it possible for one person to be so completely self-absorbed and so efficient all in one day? She'd expected a call in a few days, maybe by the end of the week, figuring they'd need some time to untangle Luann's web of lies and figure out their next steps. She hadn't expected him to accomplish all that in a few hours.

"Well," Dan threw out lightly. "You'd better call him. He did say _asap_."

Allie sighed and glanced at her phone. She had a feeling Jax wasn't going to let her keep him waiting. Even if she stalled, he'd probably be calling her anyway within ten minutes. Better to just rip off the band aid and get it over with. Allie glanced at her best friend one more time, exasperated by the pure and utter joy written all over his face, and then hit the call button.


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

The Charming Cafe was as good a place as any to meet. As the town’s one and only greasy spoon, just about every resident had slid into one of its booths at some point, and Luann and Gemma had a standing lunch date here every Wednesday afternoon. Jax had lucked out when Gemma was able to get ahold of Luann in time to move their lunch to a late dinner. So now, as he sat beside his vice president, with his mother and club treasurer on the other side of the large booth, all they had to do was wait for Luann to show.

He didn’t want this to be an ambush. He wanted Luann to feel safe, which was why he’d dragged Gemma along, and he wanted her to stay put, which was why he’d chosen a well-known, heavily-patroned town establishment that would make it very hard for her to bolt or make a scene. Luann Delaney was a lot of things and had made some pretty stupid decisions, but she wasn’t dumb enough to risk her reputation by throwing a temper tantrum in public, at one of her favorite Charming haunts no less.

After they’d left Sweet Productions earlier, it was clear what the club needed to do. Church was just a formality by that point and the vote had been swift and unanimous. The only reason Jax decided to handle this situation with kid gloves was out of respect for Luann’s old man. Otto was one of the best of them, if not  _ the  _ best, and after the club lost its first president, Otto had stepped in to help make that void in Jax’s life a little bit smaller. Nothing and no one would ever replace JT - not even Clay had come close - but Jax owed Otto a debt he knew he’d never be able to fully repay.

All that goodwill only took Luann so far. She’d overstepped and taken advantage in a way he still couldn’t wrap his head around. She would have to answer for that and accept the consequences.

He didn’t give a shit if she liked it or not.

“She’s late,” his mother muttered from across the booth. Gemma dipped a hand into her flashy purse and pulled her phone out, checking for any signs of life from her best friend. When she didn’t find what she was looking for, she sighed and tossed her phone back into her purse.

“She always late?” Jax asked as their waitress topped off their coffee. It was really just a poor stand-in for a beer, but he wasn’t sleeping much these days anyway. A little caffeine wouldn’t hurt him.

Gemma huffed a little and blew her bangs out of her eyes. “Not really. I have a feeling she might be onto me, or, onto  _ you,  _ is probably more like it.”

“Yeah, well,” Opie leaned his elbows on the table, his long face serious as a heart attack. “She’s just gonna have to get over it.”

Gemma blew out an exasperated breath and shook her head. “I’m not tryin’ to tell you to go easy on her or anything. I’m just sayin’, is all.”

His VP grunted in agreement, which was probably the best Gemma was going to get where Luann was concerned. Lyla had sworn up and down she’d had no idea about any of the safety issues at Cara Cara, and when she did hear about them, it had taken a good hour for Opie to talk her down from calling Luann right then and there. They didn’t need Luann to get tipped off - it was anyone’s guess what she would’ve done had that happened. Probably would’ve run for the hills, taking what was left of Cara Cara - and the club’s only real legitimate business prospect at this point - with her.

Jax glanced at Bobby, who’d been all but mute since they sat down at the booth. Even through his gnarly beard and soft features, he looked like he was going to throw up. Jax threw him a reassuring grin, but even that didn’t feel natural. No one was going to relish this. No one wanted to have to do this. But here they were.

As if on cue, Luann breezed through the cafe’s carousel doors without a care in the world. Dressed in her usual uniform of tight denim jeans and even tighter low-cut top, she lifted her sunglasses into her hair, her heavily-lined eyes searching for her best friend at their usual table. If Luann had any ideas about what this was really about, her poker face was pretty damn good. She started sauntering toward their table until her eyes finally zeroed in on the fact that Gemma wasn’t alone.

Luann’s steps stuttered, momentarily stunned. Her mouth opened and closed like a trout and then her eyes darted around the cafe wildly, as if she was trying to find something, anything that would help her get out of there. Just as she started to backpedal, his mother knew the part she had to play.

Gemma slid out of the booth with her hand extended to her friend. She smiled weakly and then gestured with her head toward the booth, “Come on, Lu. Why don’t you sit down.”

When Luann still didn’t move, Gemma gently took her by the hand and led her to the booth, careful to push her in first so that Luann was conveniently sandwiched between Gemma and Bobby. Nowhere to run to now.

Jax’s gaze fell to Otto Delaney’s old lady, and for a split second, his resolve wavered. Luann stared back at him, white as a sheet with hollow eyes glazed over through unshed tears. He swallowed hard and shifted in his seat. He didn’t enjoy this feeling. Didn’t want her to be scared of him. Didn’t want her to feel ganged up on. But, then again, he had to remind himself, Luann brought this on herself.

And it was clear she already had a pretty good idea what this was about.

“Jax, I -” she stammered shakily, but he just shook his head.

He flashed her a pained smile and folded his hands in front of him on the table in an effort to look as diplomatic as possible.

“We had a sit-down with Jimmy Sweet this afternoon,” Jax started, pausing long enough for full and utter terror to creep into Luann’s eyes. “And as it turns out, all those pages of edits his lawyer made to the partnership deal weren’t so off-base after all.”

Luann swallowed hard, her gaze drifting wildly to Gemma, then to Bobby, and back to Gemma again. Only Gemma could meet her in the eye, but after sending her a sad smile, she just looked away again. Bobby, on the other hand, kept his eyes grimly on the worn salt and pepper shakers in front of him.

“Luann,” he called out to her. He knew she didn’t exactly deserve the gentle, almost hesitant tone he’d opted to use with her, but he couldn’t bring himself to treat her any other way.

Her frantic eyes slammed into him, and he held her gaze there, calmly and coolly with just enough of a glint to let her know that while she wasn’t in any physical danger, she also wasn’t getting out of here with her life intact. She was right, too, because when they all walked out of here, Samcro’s path would remain relatively the same - Luann’s path, though, would look much, much different.

“The club is pullin’ out of Cara Cara.”

She swallowed hard, and when she blinked, a lone tear slipped down her cheek as she nodded quietly.

“We can’t - and we won’t - get in bed with a business that’s one herpes outbreak away from getting shut down. When we first sat down to talk about this merger with Jimmy Sweet, we told you that what we wanted, what  _ the club  _ wanted, was more legitimate ways to earn. And this...Luann, we can’t hold up our end of the deal if you can’t even try to hold up yours.”

Luann nodded again as another resigned tear fell from her eye. Gemma reached over to rest a gentle hand over hers in silent support. That was fine. They weren’t trying to ruin Luann’s life, and her tears didn’t bring Jax any vindication.

“Why did you do it?” he asked, this time unable to keep the ice from slipping into his voice. “Did you really think we wouldn’t find out?”

She glanced down at her lap and wiped away a stray tear. When Luann looked back at him, Jax saw the resilient old lady Otto had married years before, and he couldn’t help but smile sadly at her.

“I thought I’d be able to turn things around,” Luann murmured. “I  _ wanted  _ to turn things around. I just didn’t know how...and Jimmy with all his fancy equipment and that big studio...I thought that once we were there and we were working and we were using Jimmy’s crew and using all of that goddamn shark of a lawyer’s rules...I thought I could save it.”

Jax nodded solemnly. Yeah, he’d figured as much. That didn’t make it right, and that didn’t make it better either.

“I didn’t think all you guys would go running over there,” Luann sniffed. “I thought the lawyers would work it out and no one would ever have to know.”

He could feel Opie tense next to him, and his VP pounced before he had a chance to stop him.

Opie leaned forward menacingly and jabbed a ringed finger at his wife’s employer. “All I can say is you’re lucky as fuck Lyla didn’t catch any of the shit being passed around over there.”

Luann swallowed hard, her eyes once again darting wildly between her best friend and her lover, but got nothing. Jax just sat next to his VP, silently backing him up.

“I didn’t mean to - I didn’t want any of that to happen. I just didn’t know what to do.”

Jax blew out a deep breath. He’d figured as much too, but Opie was well within his rights here. 

“Bullshit you didn’t know what to do, Luann,” Opie barked out, a little too loudly though, given that they had an audience.

“Ope,” Jax murmured lowly. “Keep it in check.”

Opie took a deep breath, exhaling heavily, but his eyes never left their target. “Lyla is out. Consider this conversation her official resignation. She’s goin’ over to Sweet Productions as soon as all this shit is worked out because unlike your careless ass, my sister actually has her shit together and will make sure she stays fuckin’ safe.”

Jax bristled a little at Opie’s choice of words, particularly his use of the word  _ sister.  _ It was no secret Opie felt that way about Allie, that he considered her family even though their parents had been divorced for almost as long as they’d been together. Jax just wasn’t crazy about the reminder.

As Luann’s mouth opened and closed, flailing for words, Jax decided it was time to put an end to this once and for all.

“You’ve got two choices here,” he told her and shook his head, still unable to believe what he was about to say. “We pull our money out of Cara Cara and let you go about business as usual. Now that all this shit has come to light, Lyla’s just gonna be the first girl who leaves. The rest will follow as soon as they hear what’s been goin’ on, and you know that. Sooner or later, the work and the money will dry up, if you’re not shut down before. Or,” he shrugged lightly. “You cut your losses.”   


Luann frowned, leaning forward as though she hadn’t heard him right. “What do you mean, cut my losses?”

Right about now, his fingers were really itching for a cigarette. Something to take the edge off. Luann was glaring at him like he was somehow the bad guy in this shit situation, and if anything, it was just more fuel for the fire.

“I mean you admit that while you may be good at writing and directing porn that people get off on watching, you know shit about runnin’ a legitimate business. You sign Cara Cara over to the club, we finish that merger with Jimmy Sweet, and, out of respect for Otto, we let you stay on as a writer and director, if that’s what you want. You keep your income, you save face, and you stay the fuck outta our way.”

Luann inhaled sharply and choked back a sob. Gemma flew into damage control, squeezing Luann’s hand to give her a little shake.

“Honey, I think you know what the right call is here,” Gemma told her gently.

Luann squeezed her eyes shut, shook her head a little, and then, when she finally looked back up, the defiance and determination in her eyes was long gone. All that was left was resignation and regret.

* * *

“Well, that couldn’t have been any shittier,” Bobby murmured gruffly as he lit a cigarette.

After the inevitable conclusion to their second sit-down of the day, Gemma walked Luann to her car, they exchanged a few words, and a long hug, and then Luann sped out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell.

Jax blew out a ring of smoke, grateful to finally have a cigarette between his lips. With the way things were going, it felt like this day would never end. Between the miles they’d put on, the sit-downs and the hard conversations that followed, not to mention the stress, Jax felt dead on his feet. The best he could hope for later tonight was a couple of cold beers, a joint, and maybe a croweater or two to screw the pain away. Fuck if he was going home to face his wife.

His prepay buzzed inside his cut, and one look at the caller id had him snapping it open to answer it. “Got anything?”

“Sorry, prez,” Juice replied on the other end of the line. “Dead end.”

Jax nodded, catching Opie and Bobby’s gazes as he spoke. “Alright. Keep at it. We made the deal with Luann - we can go over everything at church tomorrow.”

Unfortunately, just as he snapped the prepay shut and tossed it back into his cut, Gemma chose that exact moment to rejoin them where their bikes sat outside the cafe. Judging by the expectant expression on her face, she knew something was up and she knew it wasn’t good.

She perched a hand on one hip and brushed some dark hair behind an ear with the other. “Well?”

There was no easy way to tell her, so Jax just pushed it out. “It was another dead end, Ma.”

Gemma inhaled sharply, but her face remained stoic and emotionless. She never failed to amaze him - in spite of everything she’d been through and everything she’d lost, she was just as strong and unflappable as ever. Even now, in the knowledge that her husband’s murderer still lived to see another day, that he was still slipping right through their fingertips, Gemma remained the O.G. old lady she’d always been and always would be.

Six months in Stockton hadn’t been anything outside the norm in this outlaw life, let alone the charges that put them there. Those six months had passed in relative calm, as far as time inside went and despite the Nord president who’d taken up residence a cell block down from where they stayed. But on his last night inside, Ernest Darby shivved the club’s then-president in the back, right in front of his Samcro brothers. Then he’d walked out of Stockton the next morning with freedom in one hand and Clay’s blood on the other.

He’d all but fallen off the face of the earth the moment he walked out of Stockton. And with the club’s intelligence officer still stuck inside for another month, Darby had had a hell of a head start. The club had relied on other charters’ resources to try to make some headway before they’d gotten out two months ago, but no one had been able to sniff out much of a scent.

It was like the son of a bitch had vanished into thin air.

And no one wanted vengeance more than the old lady Clay Morrow had left behind. Jax wanted to give that to her, and to Clay - he just prayed to God it didn’t leave a war in its wake.

“We’re not gonna give up, Ma,” he told her, reaching out to take her hand. He squeezed it gently to make sure she knew how serious he was, that she wasn’t alone, that the club would leave no stone unturned.

Gemma nodded with a grin, even though her dark eyes brimmed with unshed tears. “I know that. Of course I know that.”

Jax grinned back at her before pulling her into a one-armed hug, making sure to hold her against his chest as tightly as she would let him. “Why don’t you head home, okay? I can stop by later if you want.”

She cocked an eyebrow at him, obviously on to his game. “What, and give you an excuse not to go home tonight? Don’t miss out on family time on my account, Jackson.”

“Ah,” Jax grinned and kissed her cheek. “Love ya too, Ma.”

Gemma gripped him by the chin and then rested her fingertips on his cheek. “I do love you, but I’m sick of running interference, okay?”

That was fair. After all, whenever Wendy got fed up with him not answering her calls, she opted to call the shop instead, and Gemma was always the lucky one who had to take those calls. If their roles were reversed - and he was glad they weren’t - Jax imagined he’d feel the same way. That still didn’t make him any more motivated to deal with what was waiting for him at home.

After he saw Gemma to her black Escalade, Jax fell back in step with his VP and his treasurer with something else weighing on his mind. 

He sure as shit didn’t like it, and saying the words out loud would sting more than just a little, but that didn’t make them any less true. The thought had been needling at him ever since they’d pulled out of Sweet Production’s expansive parking lot, and it had been trailing him ever since. Even now, both Luann and Opie had inadvertently confirmed what he already knew to be true. And if the club had any chance of getting this right and of getting out of guns once and for all, they didn’t need someone like Rosen in their corner, who’d been perfectly fine to let Luann’s attorney do all the work while happily collecting his monthly retainer and who barely seemed to be available for even a five-minute call anymore. They needed someone who knew what the hell they were doing. They needed someone who didn’t cut corners and didn’t let shit slide. They needed a shark.

A shark who was also a huge pain in the ass.

Jax glanced at his VP and his treasurer and decided to lead with his head. This was all a means to an end - the merger with Jimmy Sweet, Cara Cara, the rental properties in Charming and storage units just outside the town’s city limits that they were looking at buying - it was a step towards the end goal. And he was pragmatic enough to know a good business decision when he saw one. What was best for the club was what was best in the end. That was all that really mattered anyway.

So he sighed, and pushed out roughly, “I think we need to have a conversation about Rosen.”

* * *

_ One Week Later _

Allie rolled into Teller-Morrow’s parking lot about ten minutes earlier than the previously agreed on meeting time. She’d always been a punctual person, priding herself on the rule that five-minutes early was always right on time, but today it was just as much a defense mechanism as it was a personality tick. While this wasn’t the first time she’d been here, or even inside the clubhouse, it had been at least three years. Of course, when she’d been here for Opie’s wedding, the atmosphere had been pretty different, and she’d been able to weave in and out of the crowds of grungy, long-haired bikers and barely-dressed women without drawing much attention to herself.

In the middle of the afternoon, T-M and the clubhouse just outside of it was pretty tame. The sounds of a gear grinding, tools being put to work, and heavy metal blasting through the shop’s loudspeakers cast a sort of normal glow on the whole place. To the average person, this would look like any old, well-established auto repair shop with a big, ominous building alongside it. 

So, what was she supposed to do now that she’d decided to show up early? There was no way she was just walking inside the clubhouse unannounced. She could call Jax, or maybe Opie was a safer bet, and let them know she was here and ready to get started. She could also just sit in her car for another ten minutes and pretend she was working on something or on the phone to stall for as long as she could. 

Whether it was good luck or bad fortune, Gemma Teller-Morrow made the decision for her. The loud knock on her driver’s side window had her jumping in her seat, and Allie looked up to find Gemma leaning down to see inside her car with both hands perched on her hips. When their eyes met, Gemma’s red-stained lips broke apart in a grin.

“Long time no see, huh?”

Allie pulled on a smile and waved back at her. Well, might as well get out of the car now. She grabbed her bag and the paperwork she’d brought with her, and slid out of her car to greet Gemma. Allie almost yelped in shock when Gemma threw an arm around her shoulder to draw her into a quick, good-natured hug.

“It’s good to see you too, Gemma.”

“Isn’t it?” Gemma laughed, quickly releasing Allie so she could set both feet on the ground. She glanced down at Allie’s attire, taking expert inventory of her patent leather ankle booties, black tights, and cream and black plaid button-up tucked into a matching knee-length cream skirt. “Look at you! You’re really wearing this lawyer get-up well, ya know that?”

Allie glanced down at her outfit and laughed sheepishly. “Okay. Thanks, I guess.”

“It really is good to see you,” Gemma grinned again. “I think the last time was what, Ope and Lyla’s wedding?”

“Yep. Sounds about right.”

“And now here you are, all professional and shit. I’m guessing you’re here to finalize everything?”

Allie smiled quickly. “Right - Jax’s signature is the last one I need and then we’re all set.”

She’d already been by what was left of Cara Cara’s studio earlier this afternoon to get Luann’s signature on everything. It had been awkward, to say the least, but to Luann’s credit, she held her shoulders high and her back straight as she signed away the rights to the business she’d built from the ground up.

“You know,” Allie allowed. “I’m sorry everything played out the way it did with Luann. I know she’s your friend and...I just wish things had turned out a little differently.”

Her life would be so much easier right now if the partnership deal went down the way they’d originally planned, or, even better, if the whole thing fell through altogether. But, like most things in life, nothing was ever really that easy.

Gemma nodded and flashed her a quick grin. “Yeah, well, it is what it is, and she made her bed.”

“Right.”

They both seemed to sense they’d exhausted the conversation at around the same time, and Gemma graciously pulled her phone out of her pocket to send off a quick text message.

“I just let Jax know you’re here,” Gemma told her. Less than a moment later, her phone pinged with his response. “And...he says they’re ready for you inside.”

“Okay.”

Gemma smiled again as Allie geared herself up to head inside the clubhouse. “It really was good to see you. Don’t be a stranger now, ya hear? You ever need a tune-up or new tires or anything like that, you know who to call.”

“I do,” Allie smiled and then her smile waned just a little. “You know, Gemma, I was really sorry to hear about Clay. I know this probably isn’t the best time or the place, but I’m so sorry. He was a really good man.”

Gemma swallowed tightly and pressed an even tighter smile on her face as she gently pushed Allie toward the clubhouse. “Thanks, honey. He was. Now, go ahead and take care of your business.”

She sent Gemma a little awkward wave now that she’d gone ahead and killed the mood between them. It was probably just as well that it was time to head inside and get this paperwork finalized once and for all. She didn’t really know what else to say to Gemma. The woman had always been larger than life, a hurricane of hair extensions, sharp nails, and a bite that could cut you right to the quick. As a general practice, Allie had always tried to keep her distance when she was in the queen bee’s orbit, and today was really no different.

So now, she squared her shoulders toward the clubhouse, steeling herself to the task at hand. Right about now, Allie was grateful she’d chosen to slide those power booties on this morning and that she’d swiped on some blood-red lipstick before leaving the studio too.

_ Fake it ‘til you make it,  _ she thought ruefully. And right about now, she’d have to fake all the confidence in the world to make it inside the clubhouse.

With her heart pounding a little too heavily in her chest, Allie gingerly pushed through one of the clubhouse’s double doors with one hand, keeping a firm grip on the paperwork in the other. She’d hold onto that paperwork like a lifeline if she had to.

The clubhouse looked exactly the same since the last time she’d been there, and she didn’t really have a chance to gain her bearings inside the place either because Opie was already throwing an arm around her shoulder to draw her deeper inside.

“Hey, Al,” he grinned down at her. “I think we need to make this a habit more often.”

“Hi, Ope,” she returned his grin, grateful for the momentary reprieve. If anything, he would’ve known how intimidating an MC’s clubhouse could be to an outsider, and even though she was sort of familiar with this world, her experiences were few and far between.

He grinned down at her again as he led her over to the bar, narrowly missing a few women with more hairspray in their hair than clothes on their bodies. Several Reaper cuts were already waiting for them by the bar, and she felt herself swallow tightly as she stepped up alongside Jax, who’d turned to face her. With his dark, slicked back blonde hair, unkempt beard, piercing navy blue eyes, and lazy grin, he was so good-looking it physically hurt.

So she took a deep breath and looked the devil in the eye. “Hello, Jax.”

That lazy grin just slipped further up one side of his face as he glanced down at her. Right about now, she was really grateful for the extra height boost because even in four inch heels, she still barely skimmed the tip of his chin. 

He dipped his chin to her in greeting. “Allie.”

And did he...did he just wink at her? What the hell was his problem? It was as if he  _ wanted  _ to set her off-kilter, even though she was technically here to finalize a deal for  _ him _ . God, he was such a self-righteous prick.

Well, at this point, she just wanted to get this over with so she could get the hell out of here. She put the paperwork down in front of him, digging through her bag for a pen, when a heavy-set guy with wiry hair set a beer down in front of her. Allie swallowed hard, momentarily thrown off-balance and then quickly shook her head at him.

“Oh, no thank you,” she told him with a polite grin and gently pushed the cold bottle back toward him.

“It’s fine,” Jax told her good-naturedly, flashing her a wide grin with a shrug. “Nobody here cares if ya drink on the job.”

That was an easy enough of an out, and she pressed a firm grin across her lips to make her point. “I’d prefer  _ not  _ to drink on the job, but thanks anyway.”

She preferred not to drink  _ at all _ , but she wasn’t about to let that slip here. With that, she pushed the beer back at the guy behind the bar with some finality. He just shrugged, scooped up the beer, and set it in front of someone else.

Allie gestured to the paperwork between them and set her pen down in front of Jax, careful to avoid his gaze as she spoke. “Everything’s all set. Luann signed off this afternoon, so we just need your signature and then we’re good to go.”

Jax nodded easily, sliding the paperwork closer to him and grabbing the pen in his right hand. She’d already ear-marked the signature pages, but he took his time in looking everything over, starting with the very first page...almost as if he was double-checking that she’d given him the right agreement to sign.

Had it been anyone else, she wouldn’t have thought anything of it. In fact, she probably would’ve been a little impressed that they’d thought to make sure everyone had their ducks in a row before signing on the dotted line. But, seeing as though this was Jax Teller, that little spark she’d felt the second he’d settled his gaze on her fanned out into full-blown irritation.

If he sensed any ire on her end, he didn’t show it. Instead, after nodding to himself, he uncapped the pen with his teeth, and scribbled his name on the signature line. Then he pushed the paperwork back at her with a self-satisfied grin. Considering the club was now the official owner of Cara Cara’s remaining assets, Allie supposed that was fair.

“I’ll make some copies of this when I get back to my office,” she told him as she put the signed document back in her bag, “and then I can email your copy to your attorney, if you’d like, or to someone in the club directly, whatever you prefer.”

Jax flashed her another grin, and she didn’t miss the way he glanced at Opie briefly before turning back to her. “Actually, we have some other business we’d like to talk to you about.”

Despite the reassuring look Opie was now sending her, a wave of uneasiness washed over her. “Okay.”

“Well,” Jax leaned an elbow against the bar as he spoke, his gaze locked firmly on her with a cocksure grin. “Over the last few weeks, we’ve come to the realization that our current lawyer isn’t really meeting our expectations.”

He paused just long enough for her entire body to freeze.

“Now, I’ll be the first to admit we made a mistake in lettin’ Luann and her lawyer take the lead on this. We should’ve been involved in all the talks, all the meetings right from day one,” he flashed her another easy grin when her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “That being said, we’re all in agreement here,” Jax gestured to where some of the other club members sat at the bar, “that our lawyer is a lazy piece of shit for the way he let us take a backseat without advising that it might blow up in our face, all while letting us foot the bill for Luann’s lawyer and collecting our monthly retainer without having to do more than a few hours of work on this deal.”

Huh. She hadn’t been aware they had an attorney like that. But, sometimes people needed to learn their lessons the hard way.

“We want to move to more legitimate business deals,” Jax pressed on. “And move away from the things that land us in hot water.”

_ Jesus,  _ Allie thought,  _ hot water is an understatement. _

“We need a lawyer who will help us protect our investments and who won’t bullshit us in return,” Jax paused again, almost as if he was gearing himself up for whatever he was about to say next. “We’d like to offer you that job.”

Allie sucked in a harsh breath, her eyebrows furrowed into a tight frown. He took that opening to push a piece of paper at her that Bobby had handed to him over his shoulder.

“That’s the monthly retainer we’re giving Rosen,” Jax told her, pointing to the five-figure number as he spoke. “We’d obviously transfer that to you. Look, we’re not tryin’ to steal you away from your dad. We just wanna be added to your client roster. And we can be flexible with your schedule at the studio as long as there’s some give and take on your end too,” he paused again, almost as if the words he was about to say left a bitter taste in his mouth, “we’ve been really impressed with the work you do, Allie, and we’d like you to do that work for us too.”

Her eyes dropped to the number in front of her and swallowed hard. That would nearly double her monthly income, and it wasn’t like her dad wasn’t being generous with the salary she already got from the studio. God, that was so much money, but…

“I’m not a criminal attorney though, Jax,” she pushed out roughly, and she didn’t miss the dark look that flashed across his face at the word  _ criminal _ . “I don’t have any experience in front of judges or with court or bail or anything like that and I don’t really want to.”

Jax smiled tightly and his jaw clenched ever so slightly, but just enough to tell her she’d hit a nerve. “We know that. We’re not lookin’ for that. Technically, that’s really what Rosen’s for anyway - and we would plan to keep him on as a sort of insurance policy, but we’re not plannin’ on needing that kind of lawyer anytime soon, if ever again.”

Well, that settled that. But still, her eyes dropped to that number on the page, and she took a deep breath. Could she really do this? Could she really tie herself to the club this way? Did she really want to? So much money...and then her gaze fell on Opie, who was already watching her with earnest hope in his eyes. Her resolve wavered for just a moment, and then her eyes dropped to Jax, who hadn’t let that stupid, smug grin slip off his face.

“So what do you say? Do you think we can come to some sort of  _ mutually beneficial  _ agreement here?”

And just like that...her mind screamed,  _ no way, no how, not fucking ever! _

Allie had learned a long time ago that her first instinct was always the correct one, and this was no different. Her blood simmered just looking at him. It would feel really good to smack that shit-eating grin right off his beautiful face. That would show him. But since her options were limited, she inhaled for just a little bit more strength and leveled a cool, impassive gaze on him. This was all about business anyway, and it was best to keep it that way.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m not looking to take on any new clients right now. I pretty much have my hands full with just the one anyway, and I’m fine with my workload as is. So, thank you, but I’m going to have to decline.”

Jax’s jaw worked into a tight, clenched line and his navy eyes narrowed, as if he’d expected her to say that but didn’t appreciate it any less. With the way he was staring her down now, it was like she’d committed some sort of egregious slight against the club - and probably his ego too - and if that was the case, then she’d take those small victories where she could get them.

“Well,” he allowed evenly. “If you ever change your mind, you know how to get in contact with me.”

She smiled back diplomatically. “Of course. So, should I email the finalized agreement to your attorney then?”

Jax took a long pull from his beer, his eyes darkening and never once leaving hers. Damn, did the upper-hand ever feel good.

When he set the bottle back down on the bar, all that confidence and swagger distorted into something a little more lethal. “That’s fine. You can see yourself out whenever you’re ready.”

And just because she could, Allie reached out a hand for him to shake. Jax stared at her hand for a beat and then exhaled roughly as he begrudgingly shook her hand.

“It was a pleasure, Jax,” she told him as she scooped up the pen he’d used and tossed it into her bag. 

He grunted in response, and that was just fine. In fact, that only made the grin on her face stretch even wider. She waved goodbye to Opie and then she saw herself out when she was ready, feeling more than a few pairs of eyes on her as she left.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who's read/reviewed/bookmarked/left kudos! I really appreciate you not only taking the time to read, but leaving me a little love too ;) I spent a good chunk of this week finishing up my outline (it's more than 30 pages!) and I feel like I'm in a good spot to really roll with this now. I can't promise an update every week, but I'll do my best! It feels good to write again and given everything going on in the world right now, it's pretty good therapy too. Please let me know what you thought of this update - I'd love to get your feedback!


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

“You got a second, honey?”

Allie glanced up at her dad’s voice, smiling at the sight of him in her doorway. He grinned brightly, running a hand over his dark slicked-back hair, and motioned toward her office to silently ask permission to enter. Seeing as how he’d just merged with his biggest competition and successfully absorbed that business into his own only a few days ago, he didn’t really need to ask permission to do anything around here, but she appreciated the gesture.

“Sure, Dad. What’s up?”

Jimmy shrugged a little too easily for her liking as he ventured deeper inside her office. His eyes grazed over the clean walls and their sparse, but tasteful, office decor with amusement flickering across his features. He believed every wall in the studio should be decorated with their myriad of award-winning movie posters and trophy cases abound. Allie didn’t quite agree. 

While she’d been around her dad’s line of work in some shape or form just about her entire life, she didn’t necessarily feel the need to flaunt it the way he did. 

“I just wanted to touch base with you about some plans for the party this week.”

Allie blew out a sigh but smiled at him anyway, shuffling some of the new actors’ contracts on her desk. All this paperwork wasn’t going to finish itself, but she couldn’t exactly tell her dad no. He tended to run just about everything by her when it came to the business, and she didn’t want him to think she was ungrateful or didn’t have the time to listen.

“I don’t remember party planning being part of my job description, but okay.”

Jimmy laughed, sinking down into the chair across from her and gestured to the stack of contracts in her hand. “Everything goin’ okay on that end?”

She just lifted a shoulder and tossed the stack on top of the pile on her already cluttered desk. “Pretty much. I’m still waiting for a few of them to sign on the dotted line, but other than that, no problems.”

After the merger between Sweet Productions and Cara Cara - now owned by Samcro - was finalized, the next order of business was to send all twenty of Luann’s actors their new contracts with the studio as well as signing on the crew members Jimmy had decided to keep. Then she’d dove headfirst into the steaming pile of mess Luann had left in her wake. While she’d made herself available for the inevitable questions about their new contracts, Allie had advised every single one of the new actors to retain their own attorneys to look over everything line by line. It never failed to amaze her how many of them chose not to take that advice.

“Well, that’s good news. The sooner we get them all under contract and get their tests cleared, the sooner we can put them to work.”

“I have to say I was a little surprised Luann took the club up on their offer,” Allie shrugged. “I figured she would’ve cut and run as soon as the ink dried.”

“Money is money,” Jimmy shook his head with a laugh - she knew he couldn’t really believe it either. Luann had actually just sent over her own new contract outlining her writing and directing duties at the studio, while also completely cutting her out of any business and financial decisions. Luann hadn’t hesitated, but part of her wondered if this was going to make for some awkward situations about the studio.

“Anyway,” Jimmy shifted gears with a wave of his hand. He opened his mouth to continue just as Allie’s phone pinged on her desk. “You can get that if you need to, Allie.”

She glanced at her phone with a frown, and when she saw who was texting, her heart dropped into her stomach. Her dad, however, didn’t miss a beat.

“What is it?”

Allie swallowed quickly, tossing the phone further away from her, and just shook her head. “It’s nothing.”

“Allie.”

She glanced back up at Jimmy, who was watching her with pained disappointment. “It’s not -”

“Yes, it is,” he cut in firmly. “How many times do we need to have this discussion, honey? You are not her keeper. She is _not_ your responsibility.”

Tears stung her eyes, and she had to swallow back any denial she might’ve given him. He was right, of course. She wasn’t her mother’s keeper. Her mom wasn’t her responsibility. Allie knew it definitely wasn’t a good thing the texts were becoming more frequent, but what was she supposed to do?

“How much did she ask for this time?”

Allie glanced at her phone again, gulped a little, and lied, “$200.”

Jimmy didn’t hesitate, immediately digging through his back pocket. He pulled out a money clip, flipped over a few bills, and then reached out to hand them to her. Allie wavered, trying to decide if it was really worth the effort to try to fight him on this - after all, he was still $400 short, even if he didn’t know it. She never asked exactly what it was her mom spent the money on. Sometimes, she guessed it was for rent. Other times, she was pretty sure it was to pay off whatever debt she’d racked up that week or that month. Most of the time, she was 100 percent sure it was for drugs. And pretty much all the time, she knew she was better off just not knowing.

Still, when her mom texted and asked for money, Allie gave it to her. So, she grabbed the bills from Jimmy’s waiting fingertips and balled them up into her fist.

“Allie,” Jimmy murmured softly, almost as if he was approaching a caged animal. “You can’t keep doing this. All you’re doing is letting her know she always has a safety net. You’re not helping her.”

Allie nodded on reflex. She knew that. Of course she did. She’d tried to talk herself out of handing over money so many times she’d lost count. But at the end of the day, every time they met for a handoff was the only time Allie actually got to see her mom with her own eyes, to make sure she was still eating, to make sure she was still standing, and to make sure she was still breathing. Even just _thinking_ about what would happen if the texts stopped, about what that might mean...no, she couldn’t do that.

“I know,” she told him anyway.

Jimmy didn’t look any more convinced than she felt, but he seemed to sense they were due for a palate cleanser and nodded slowly. “So. The party. I’m trying to decide about the food...I’m thinking maybe sushi or fondue, or maybe even having a few tables of both. What do you think?”

“Wow,” Allie laughed, grateful for the subject change. “I think sushi and fondue are a little above and beyond the expectations for this little merger party, especially given who most of the guests are.”

“Yeah, well,” he just shrugged. “I wanna show our new employees and our new business partners that, well, we mean business and we’re serious about making this work.” 

“That’s fair, but I think all you really need is a good supply of beer, wings, and pizza and Samcro will be good to go.”

And to be fair, that was also the exact dinner menu at Opie and Lyla’s wedding reception, so Allie figured they’d approve.

Jimmy let out a long, defeated sigh. “Alright, alright. I suppose you know them better than I do anyway -”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“Well,” he shrugged. “You know what I mean. I guess I’ll just have to settle for a table or two of sushi and maybe some finger food for our side, and then put up a nice spread of beer, wings, and pizza.”

Of course, Jimmy said all that looking a little green - he was known for lavish, over the top parties that would make Jay Gatsby jealous, and wouldn’t be caught dead serving beer, wings, and pizza if he could help it. 

“Thanks for your input,” he smiled, putting his hands on his knees as he rose to leave. “I know that wasn’t in your job description, but it was helpful all the same. You know, it also doesn’t say anywhere in your job description that you can only have one client either, just in case you weren’t aware.”

Allie threw him a long side-eye and shook her head. “Dad -”

“All I’m saying is that _I_ wouldn’t have a problem with you taking on another client. You’ve only ever done legal work for me, and I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to expand your horizons a little and get some experience elsewhere, just as long as that experience doesn’t lead you away from the studio, of course.”

“Well, of course,” she laughed.

“Like I said, Allie,” Jimmy reminded her as he pulled open her office door to leave, his eyes dropping pointedly to the bills still balled up in her fist. “Money is money. There’s nothing wrong with taking it.”

He shot her one more reassuring grin before waving goodbye and shutting the door behind him. Jimmy was right, of course, but that didn’t make it sting any less. The last thing she needed was him giving her permission to dance with the devil and take his money in the process.

Just as she was about to turn back to getting all the newly-signed contracts in order, her head shot up at another knock on the door. 

Allie exhaled in frustration and lifted her eyes to the ceiling. She really needed to get back to work.

“Yeah?”

The door opened, with one of their brand new actors on the other end. Ima Tite was the exact sort of actress you might expect to see on film. Wearing only a red bra that basically pushed her breasts into her chin, a matching school-girl skirt, stripper heels, and her long blonde hair in pigtails, she’d obviously just been at a costume fitting. Or, at least, Allie hoped.

Ima also didn’t look particularly happy. Actually, her heavily-lined eyes narrowed sharply as she sauntered deeper into the office. Their interactions had been few and far between, and given the little conversation they’d had, Allie had already made a mental note to herself to steer clear.

“Hi. What can I do for you?”

Ima’s face contorted and she held up some papers in her hand. “What can you _do_ for me? What you can do is explain to me why this contract says I have to work here for three years.”

“Because those are the terms,” Allie frowned, taken aback by Ima’s animosity.

“Well, I didn’t know that!” Ima shrieked, and Allie winced from the impact. “If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have fucking signed it!”

Allie exhaled slowly and inhaled again to keep herself calm and collected. Meeting Ima at her level wasn’t going to help anything and it definitely wasn’t going to make her feel any better about it when it was all said and done. Still, she was in no mood for this shit.

“I’m sorry you feel that way.”

If looks could kill, she’d be dead right now.

“Are you kidding me?” Ima snarled. “This is all your fault. You gave me that contract -”

“That I told you to have your own attorney review,” Allie reminded her calmly.

Ima’s eyes narrowed dangerously into tiny slits. “I don’t _have_ an attorney.”

“Well,” Allie shrugged. “It’s not my job to make sure you have your own representation. I don’t see how this is my problem here.”

At this point, she was just about done with this. She had a mountain of paperwork to sift through and she was lucky if she managed to leave the studio before 8:00 tonight. There just weren’t enough hours in the day to deal with a self-important, ignorant porn star.

“Well,” Ima perched a hand on her tiny hip and glared daggers at her. “It _is_ your problem,” then she held up the copy of her signed contract, “this...this is entrapment! You didn’t tell me I’d have to sign up for three years. What the fuck is this shit? Sexual slavery?”

Allie reared back, momentarily stunned by the words _sexual slavery_ and almost nearly as shocked that Ima knew the word _entrapment_. A beat later, she pounced, unable to stop the words that tumbled out of her mouth. “Last I checked, it’s not the studio’s responsibility to make sure you understand what you’re signing before you sign it. You have eyes. You can read, right?”

Ima took a menacing step forward and jabbed a pointy nail right into Allie’s chest. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Look,” Allie scrubbed a hand over her eyes and sighed. “I don’t have time for this right now. Get yourself an attorney, have them call me after they’ve read through your contract, and then we can go from there.”

Ima stared down at her like she’d just started speaking in pig Latin and even teetered a little on her sky-high heels. “What?”

And...she was officially done. Allie gestured to the door with her head and flashed Ima a grin. “You heard me. There’s nothing left to say until you come back with an attorney.”

Ima’s eyes darkened before narrowing into bitter slits. Then she turned on her stripper heels and stalked out of the office.

* * *

“I swear I don’t -”

Jax knifed an elbow in the guy’s throat, pinning him even deeper against the wall. “You don’t what?”

“I don’t…” he choked out, but Jax just leaned in, putting more pressure into his throat. “I don’t know. I don’t know, okay? I don’t know!”

“Bullshit, you don’t know,” Jax growled into his face.

“I don’t!”

He felt a hand clasp around his shoulder to pull him back, but Jax wasn’t ready to give in just yet. The dealer would crack - he had to. All he needed to do was keep the pressure on, maybe make him piss himself, and then he’d talk. 

“Where the fuck is your supplier?”

“It’s not -”

“Don’t even _think_ about lyin’ to me,” Jax murmured dangerously, applying just enough pressure on his throat to make his eyes roll back into his head.

“I swear I don’t…” he gagged. “It’s not Darby - there’s no way. I haven’t heard from that asshole since before he went inside Stockton. That was months ago!”

Jax blew out a deep breath and, feeling more pressure from the hand on his shoulder, shifted his elbow so the dealer could collapse to the ground. He spit on the floor just for good measure, narrowly missing the dealer’s face. 

Goddammit. Another dead end. Another missed opportunity. 

_We’re never going to find him,_ a voice whispered. _He’s gone._

There had to be something else. Some other lead. Some other path they could take. The rest of his brothers fell in step behind him as they filed out of the dealer’s apartment and headed back to the line of bikes waiting for them. When Juice tracked this guy down, Jax had been so sure this was the breakthrough they needed. So sure that this would finally give them some sort of direction.

By the time the club gathered at the table, the stress of the day’s events was palpable around the room. They could all feel it. They were grasping at straws, pulling at tattered loose ends, and hoping something came out on the other end. In other words, things were pretty much fucked up beyond all recognition.

“I think it goes without saying we don’t have a whole lot of options left here,” Jax pushed out gruffly. 

A round of nods passed around the table almost immediately. Jax took in the grim expressions on their faces, from one to the next, and he knew they weren’t any more optimistic than he was.

Tig pounded his fists on the table, snarling in frustration. “I just don’t get it - how can a fucker like Darby just disappear? How does someone like him do that?”

“Doesn’t make any sense,” Chibs nodded solemnly from across the table.

Darby obviously had friends in even lower places than they’d thought. There was just no trace of him anywhere, and at this point, they were lucky if he was even alive, let alone still in the country. If the club had to chase Darby to the furthest ends of the earth, they would do it, while exhausting every dollar they had in the process. And that was something Jax just couldn’t stomach...not with the plans they had to finally turn the tide.

Jax’s gaze dropped to Juice for a lifeline.

“I think it’s time we start outsourcing our recon,” Jax told him, and Juice nodded as if he’d been anticipating just that.

“I’ve been thinkin’,” Juice folded his hands on top of the table and sighed deeply. “I know a guy who...well, his ex ran off with their kid. Damn near disappeared off the face of the earth, and he just about lost his mind trying to find them. He was pretty sure his kid was dead, if not the ex too, and I did everything I could think of to help him but couldn’t nail them down for the life’a me. He hired this PI as a last resort, and I don’t know exactly how he did it, what strings he pulled, but the PI found the ex and the kid - in one piece too - in less than two months. He tracked them all the way across the country and pinned them down right before they crossed the border to Canada.”

Jax pulled his fingertips through the scruff on his chin in thought and glanced at Opie, who was watching Juice intently. When they locked eyes, Opie nodded in silent agreement. Hiring a private investigator didn’t exactly sit well, but what other options did they really have at this point?

“You think you could get in contact with this PI?”

Juice lifted a shoulder. “I don’t see why not. I mean, the guy’s not gonna be cheap, but I don’t know what else we can do. Darby just completely fell off the grid - and if _I_ can’t find him, there’s no guarantee this PI can either, but still...maybe it’s worth at least a conversation.”

 _And if anything,_ Jax thought grimly, _this will buy us some more time with Gemma._

Jax’s eyes scanned the table and found unanimous agreement across the board. Like Juice said, maybe it was worth a shot. It wasn’t like they had any other leads coming in with the help they were getting from their other charters and contacts. 

“Alright,” Jax nodded to Juice. “Make the contact - see if you can get an idea about how much this is gonna cost us, and set the meeting.”

Juice dipped his head in acknowledgement, and Jax could already see the wheels in his head turning. He had no doubt Juice would get them all the information they needed, as well as set up a meeting as soon as he could get the PI into Charming. At this point, this might be the only real option they had left in finding Darby. And if this PI couldn’t find him, maybe it would be time to finally admit they’d been chasing their tails for no reason.

Gemma would rain down a shitstorm of hellfire on them, but at least they could say they’d pulled every string and used every resource available. Eventually, Gemma would just have to accept what he already knew: they might never get the justice Clay deserved. Of course, for her, that was easier said than done.

He pounded the gavel, signalling church was adjourned for now, and filed out of the chapel with the rest of his brothers. Chibs clapped him on the shoulder in silent support, and he nodded. While he appreciated the gesture, it didn’t really make him feel any better. He guessed it would take more than a whole bottle of Jack and a few croweaters in his bed, but that was just temporary relief. Under the glare of red morning light, everything would still be right where he left it.

Clay would still be dead. Gemma would still be crying herself to sleep. The club would still be picking up the broken pieces. His wife would still be waiting at home.

On that note, Jax sidled up to the bar in the clubhouse, grateful when a prospect silently put a cold beer in front of him. He pulled his prepay out of his cut only to find five missed calls and three text messages waiting for him.

Three of those missed calls were from Wendy.

“Shit,” he muttered under his breath.

And the other two were from... _Ima_? What the hell was she calling him for? And better yet, whose ass did he have to beat for giving her his number? He scanned the text messages and pushed out a rough sigh.

_When you are coming home tonight? I’ll make dinner._

No, he didn’t want dinner. He didn’t want to go home either, and Wendy knew that.

And the other messages... _It’s an emergency! Call me right now!_

“Jesus Christ,” he exhaled.

Jax barely had a chance to snap his phone shut before Ima started blowing it up again. He rested both palms against the bartop, and his head dipped down in resignation. Today was just not his day. And it was clear the gash was just going to keep calling until he answered.

What had been one drunken mistake quickly devolved into the mistake that just wouldn’t live and let die. Less than a week after they’d gotten out of Stockton, Jax had woken up one morning with a killer hangover and Ima Tite naked in his dorm at the clubhouse. He’d immediately regretted whatever poor decisions he’d made the night before that led him to that particular outcome.

After kicking her out of his bed, he’d also immediately taken about five hot showers to wash her off him and got tested two days later, and again after another month just to be damn sure.

And now, it seemed like she somehow thought that one night entitled her to not only his phone number, but for him to come running at her beck and call like she was someone to him.

Well, she was _someone_ to him all right, just not the kind of someone she wanted to be.

When his phone buzzed again, he swore under his breath, and flipped it open.

“What?” Jax growled.

“Jax!” Ima practically shrieked on the other end and he winced, pulling the phone away from ear to lessen the impact.

“How did you get this number, Ima?”

That seemed to get her attention, and she stuttered for a few moments, caught off-guard and probably red-handed too. “Well...Luann gave it to me.”

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered and rubbed his eyes with a ringed hand. It looked like he was in for yet another painful conversation with Luann as soon as this shit was resolved.

“I told her what was goin’ on and that I needed to talk to you and she gave me your number,” Ima explained, but her voice was more whiny than anything. “I need your help, Jax! That stupid bitch made me sign a new contract and it’s terrible! It’s so terrible, Jax!”

Jax’s lips curled in amusement as his initial irritation faded away, and he had to bite back a laugh. “A’ight. And what do you expect me to do about it?”

As he listened, his lips broke apart into a full-fledged grin. Well, _this_ was unexpected. And very appealing, given that his only other option for distraction right now was drowning himself in whiskey. It was barely even 4:00, and he had a helluva lot more time to kill before he had to make any hard decisions about where he was sleeping tonight.

He could kill some time at the studio.

 _And,_ he thought cheerfully as he tossed his prepay back into his cut and headed for the exit, _this could be fun._

* * *

Allie chewed on a french fry as she scanned the latest email to hit her inbox and sighed. Well, at least she’d had the foresight to order dinner a little early because she wasn’t getting out of here anytime soon. Getting through this merger just might be the death of her. _Cleaning up_ after the merger was more accurate, and she still had a ton of more hoops to jump through in order to mop up Luann’s OSHA mess while protecting the assets Samcro had just become the proud owners of.

It wasn’t like they exactly deserved the extra care she’d taken in making sure their investment was secure, but Allie didn’t cut corners and she wasn’t about to start now. Especially seeing as how she’d be at the mercy of a certain MC president if she messed up.

But she wasn’t going to mess up, so it really didn’t matter.

Just as she took a healthy bite out of her chicken caesar wrap, a loud knock rapped on her door. Allie squeezed her eyes shut with a wince. Why was it so hard to get any real work done around here? At this rate, she was going to end up passed out face down on her desk before she could even _think_ about heading home.

She chewed quickly, somehow swallowing that bite without choking.

“Yeah?”

The door opened to reveal Ima on the other side - who still hadn’t bothered to change since the last time they spoke - with Jax Teller standing next to her. The second their eyes met, Jax’s lips slipped to the side in amusement. She hadn’t even needed to see Ima standing there with her arms crossed sullenly over her chest to know what this was about.

“Seems like we gotta problem here, darlin’,” Jax drawled easily, drawing his tattooed forearms across his chest as he spoke.

Allie didn’t miss the way Ima’s eyes widened at Jax referring to _her_ as _darlin’_ , and not the other way around. Not that it mattered. It seemed as though Ima was looking to stir up more trouble, and Allie was happy to give it to her.

“I can see that,” she replied casually. She flipped her to-go carton closed and gestured for them to have a seat.

“Didn’t mean to interrupt your dinner,” Jax told her as he dropped into one of the chairs across from her desk.

Allie flashed him a quick smile. “Sure, you didn’t.”

His head tilted lazily to the side, but that amused grin still hadn’t left his face. Finally, Jax seemed to remember Ima was also in the office and he lifted his chin to her.

“Ima’s told me some things about the new contract she said you made her sign,” Jax threw out, his eyes darting expectantly to Allie, then to Ima, and back to Allie again.

It took a lot of strength to maintain this cool composure, but Allie wasn’t about to let either of them win, especially since they were obviously in the wrong.

Allie held up a finger and leaned forward. “First of all, I didn’t _make_ you sign anything. And to be very clear, when I gave you your contract a week ago, I advised you to get your own representation and to have that representation go through everything with you _before_ you signed. I also thought I told you to come back with an attorney,” she gestured to Jax and the smile playing on his lips just spread even wider. “And I don’t see another attorney in this room, do you?”

“Listen, bitch -”

Jax’s head snapped in Ima’s direction, effectively cutting off whatever she was about to say. In a flash, his blue eyes darkened in warning. She withered in her seat and after a beat, Jax’s gaze fell to Allie again, this time with a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

Ima huffed angrily, drawing her arms across her chest. “I want the terms in my old contract.”

“I’m sorry,” Allie just shrugged. “You don’t work for Luann anymore. You work for a legitimate business now with legitimate contracts.”

“Three years is bullshit!” Ima shrieked, practically leaping out of her seat. “And I don’t work for _you_ ,” she jabbed a long-nailed finger at Allie, “I work for Jax!”

Jax’s face scrunched up mock-confusion as he rested both elbows on the arms of his chair. “That’s not really true, darlin’.”

With the day she’d had - and was still having - it was all she could do to keep herself from reaching across her desk and ripping out Ima’s bleached hair, one fried extension at a time. Part of her kind of wanted to reach over her desk and smack Jax across the face too, but that wouldn’t settle this any faster.

“The club may own Cara Cara,” Jax went on, his eyes still on Allie as he spoke. “But Sweet Productions has absorbed what’s left of Cara Cara into its day-to-day operations, that includes all the actors too. So, you _technically_ work for Jimmy Sweet now because he’s gonna cut your paychecks, not us.”

Ima’s mouth opened to respond, but it shut just as quickly. 

“Look,” Allie told her calmly. “The studio is not liable for your inability to follow advice, and it’s certainly not liable for your inability to read a contract before you sign it.”

While her gaze locked on Ima, out of the corner of her eye, she could see Jax draw his folded hands up against his mouth as if he was trying to muffle a laugh.

“But,” she exhaled exasperatedly. “Had you actually read your contract before you signed it, you would’ve found that while yes, three years does seem like a long time - and by all accounts in this industry, it is - we reward you for your willingness to commit to three years instead of one by giving you a higher cut of the profits from each of your films. So, while yes, you’re committing to a longer employment term than you would with other studios, you’re also making more money in the long run.”

Ima’s dark eyebrows shot into her forehead. Allie just shook her head - so it was exactly what she’d thought. Ima had only read far enough to see the term-length she’d inadvertently agreed to, lost her mind, and went running to Jax for rescue. She dared a glance at him, only to find him watching her with that same smirk twisting his lips.

It was clear he hadn’t shown up here today to help Ima win any arguments. He’d come for a show, and he was getting one.

“And, had you read your contract before you signed it, you would’ve seen that it holds our studio accountable for all safety and testing procedures - and that it clearly states our responsibilities to you, as the performer, to make sure that you’re completely safe in every situation you may be in on our sets. We’re one of the only studios within a hundred mile radius that does this because it’s definitely a risk - there’s only so much we can really control - but we do it because we believe it’s our responsibility, as your employer, to keep you healthy and safe. And I think we all know how Luann felt about _that_ at Cara Cara.”

This time, Jax ran a thumb across his mouth to hide his smile. Ima, for her part, sat stunned in her seat.

“So, really, you’ve got two options. You honor the terms of the contract you signed, and then in three years, we re-evaluate. Or, if you really want to be let out of the contract and try your luck at some other studio, you forfeit your signing bonus and you walk away.”

Ima’s mouth dropped open in shock. “My signing bonus? What the fuck?”

“It’s in the contract,” Allie shrugged and shook her head with an exasperated laugh. “I don’t know what else to tell you.”

Allie looked to Jax for confirmation that this could all be done now, and he just lifted a shoulder. Ima, however, wasn’t finished.

“Well, ya know what?” Ima sneered, jabbing another pointed finger at Allie. “I’m not doin’ either of those things. You can just go fuck off!”

Jax’s hand shot out to push Ima back in her chair, and he didn’t give her the opportunity to protest. He wagged a ringed finger at her - long gone was that ever-present amusement and in its place was the lethal glare of an MC president.

“Watch your fuckin’ mouth,” Jax growled lowly.

“I’m not doing shit, Jax. This is -”

“You know,” Allie cut in coolly. “I would love to go fuck off if it meant you took your bad attitude elsewhere. And, of course, then I’d also see you in court.”

“What?” Ima screeched.

“Yeah,” she laughed as she leaned forward on her desk. “If you walk out of here without fulfilling the terms of your contract, that means I get to sue you.”

Allie flashed her a grin for good measure as Ima’s mouth open and closed, sputtering in disbelief. Just as Ima started to push out of her chair to make a run at Allie, a tattooed forearm shot out to hold her in place.

“Allllright, ladies,” Jax murmured smoothly. “I think you’ve both made yourselves pretty clear here,” he pressed Ima a little deeper into the chair and shot her a pointed look, “Seems like you’ve got a few choices here: you do your time, you give up your bonus and walk, or you go to court.”

Ima jerked her shoulder out of Jax’s grip and shot to her feet. “You can just…”

She trailed off shakily as Jax just cocked an eyebrow at her, daring her to finish that sentence. For the first time since Allie met her, Ima showed a flicker of intelligence. Instead of saying another word, she straightened her tiny school-girl skirt and stalked out of the office, slamming the door in her wake.

Jax’s head turned just long enough to see the door shut before turning back to Allie, yet another amused smirk curving around his lips. “Well, that was fun.”

“I guess you and I have very different definitions of fun.”

He huffed out a laugh with a shake of his head. “What, that’s not how things went down with your sorority sisters whenever you had pillow fights in your underwear?”

Allie laughed, despite the fact that she was pretty surprised he remembered she’d ever actually been in a sorority, and despite the fact that even such a casual mention of that particular time in her life sent a little shiver down her spine.

And in light of the day she’d had, she couldn’t stop the words that tumbled out of her mouth: “Oh, no. There were definitely pillow fights, but none of us were wearing underwear.”

Jax’s eyebrows bounced into his forehead, his blue eyes glittering with amusement, and Allie instantly regretted her words.

Still, Jax cocked his head to the side, as if he was appraising her with new eyes. “That why they kicked you out?”

“Is that what you heard?” she laughed and shook her head, pushing down the dull ache in the back of her throat. “I’m surprised you knew that.”

He just lifted a shoulder. “You’d be surprised what I know, darlin’.”

Allie narrowed her eyes at him, and he held up both hands in surrender with a laugh.

“Tell me somethin’,” Jax tipped his chin at her with an easy smile. “You really tell her she was stupid?”

“Who?” Allie frowned. “Ima?”

“Who else?”

She exhaled slowly, starting to feel like she was ready for him to shut the door behind him too. “I might have asked her if she could read,” Allie allowed. “But I never said she was stupid.”

“Ah,” Jax nodded knowingly. “I can see where she might’ve made that mistake.”

“Sure.”

Now he was leaning forward in his chair with both elbows on his knees. “You sure you don’t wanna rethink the club’s offer? ‘Cuz after what I just saw…” he trailed off with a shit-eating grin. “Hell, I’d pay you whatever you want for the chance to get to see _that_ every day.”

And once again, the words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. “Well, considering all the extra work I’m doing for you right now...”

She trailed off, her eyes wide and once again immediately regretting her words. 

Jax’s eyebrows knitted into his forehead and he cocked his head to the side. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Shit, shit, _shit._

 _Well_ , she thought to herself. _It’s official. I’m an idiot._

She hadn’t meant to let that slip - honestly, she’d never planned on Jax or the club catching wind of the state Luann had left their newly-acquired assets in because she was handling it. There was nothing they could do about it because they would’ve needed an attorney to help them anyway. What difference did it make if they knew about it or not? And now, because she was tired and irritated and clearly not thinking straight, she’d just blown it all apart.

At this point, there was nothing she could do but tell him the truth, and so she gestured to the mess of paperwork scattered around her desk. His eyes dropped to the clutter and then dipped back to her in confusion.

“I’ve been putting in…” she lifted a shoulder nonchalantly, “Fourteen, sometimes 16-hour days to clean up Luann’s mess in time for when the cameras start rolling.”

And once again, his eyebrows bounced into his forehead in surprise. “Clean up Luann’s mess?”

“Yeah.”

He cocked an eyebrow her way. “Care to elaborate, Allie?”

She swallowed tightly. For some reason, his choice to use her actual name, rather than anything else, in this exact moment set her reeling. And when she finally found her footing again, that old familiar irritation flared.

“Luann left behind a considerable HR mess with her lack of disclosure about our safety concerns,” Allie informed him coolly. “Not to mention the 20-plus OSHA inquiries to deal with, regulation filings due to the industry’s guild that Luann hasn’t done in three years, arranging testing for all the new actors and monitoring the results...someone needs to take care of all that otherwise all those assets Luann signed away to you don’t have any actual value.”

He eyed her carefully, almost diplomatically, like part of him was impressed by her work ethic and the other part of him wanted to scream at her for not telling him all this sooner. And here he’d obviously thought the deal was signed, sealed, and delivered without anyone having to lift another finger. That the club could just sit back and collect their cut without anyone having to do anymore work.

“So lemme me make sure I have all this straight,” he folded his arms calmly across his chest as he spoke. “You’ve been workin’ your ass off over here to get Cara Cara back in shape, _not_ telling us this was goin’ on and _not_ letting us hire you because...what?”

“Someone had to do it,” Allie could only shrug. “The work isn’t going to finish itself, and it was the right thing to do.”

She didn’t know what else she was supposed to say, but she didn’t like the way he was looking at her right now, so she added: “And if this fails, if it’s not sorted out...the club can walk away and find another investment elsewhere. My dad’s reputation would never recover.”

Jax nodded slowly, scrubbed both hands over his thighs, and then shot to his feet. He dug a hand into his back pocket before unearthing his wallet and flipping some bills from it.

“How much you charge an hour then?”

Allie held out a frantic hand, rising from her chair just as he tossed a few bills onto her desk. “No, Jax, that’s not what I meant. I was just...I don’t want your money. I don’t want the club’s money. I would’ve had to do this if Luann was still involved anyway and -”

“I heard you loud and clear,” Jax murmured lowly. He tossed a few more bills onto her desk just to prove his point.

This was the second time a man had thrown money at her today, and this time was even more aggravating than the first. Screaming at him that she didn’t need his money wouldn’t help, so she scooped up the bills with one hand and shoved them in his leather-covered chest. 

“Take it back. You don’t have to pay me.”

His hand covered hers for a split second, and she jerked her hand back as if she’d been burned.

“Maybe I want to. Maybe your time and your experience is worth something to me, and maybe,” Jax told her, his lips curling back into a tight snarl, “I don’t want anything for free. The club is tryin’ to run legitimate businesses in legitimate ways and that means not cuttin’ corners and not lettin’ our new business partner run his lawyer into the ground by bailing us out when we didn’t even know we were in trouble in the first place. If you’re puttin’ that kind of work in for the club, we’re gonna pay you to do it.”

Allie opened her mouth to respond, but the words wouldn’t come. He had a point. For once, she couldn’t really argue. But that didn’t mean she was willing to take his money either.

“I don’t work for you. I work for my dad. And this is work I would’ve done for him anyway, regardless of who ended up with Cara Cara. I’m not taking your money, Jax.”

He stared at her defiantly. Then he tossed the money she’d just shoved at him back onto her desk without his gaze leaving hers. Without anything else to do, Allie just shook her head, completely exasperated and done with this day. But there was one other order of business they needed to discuss, if this was how he wanted to play it.

“You know,” Allie murmured tightly. “The next time an actor calls you with a complaint -”

“You mean there’s gonna be a next time?” 

She had to take a deep breath before she could let herself respond. “ _If_ there’s a next time, you need to talk to me first before running to the rescue.”

Jax’s eyebrows danced into his forehead, but this time, he didn’t look so amused. “That what you think happened?”

“Yeah,” she shot back. “I had it handled. I _was_ handling it.”

“Sure, you were,” Jax drawled, shoving his hands in his front pockets and leaning back on his heels. “And just so we’re clear, the next time I hear about anything that needs the club’s attention around here, _I_ will handle it however _I_ see fit. That being said, if you ever keep anything like that from me again, you and I are gonna have some serious problems.”

“I didn’t tell you,” she told him firmly. “Because it didn’t matter. Everything is in the process of being straightened out and it was never going to affect the way you get your cut or how often you get it. If it was, I would’ve told you.”

Jax’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Doesn’t make it right, Allie.”

She stood her ground, unwilling to give him an inch. “You know, I think it’s probably for the best if we keep our communications about the studio to either email or phone calls.”

“And why is that?”

She just shrugged. “I think it would create a... _difficult_ working environment if we had to do it any other way.”

Jax didn’t waver, instead, his lips curled into a self-satisfied smirk. “Darlin’, I’d eat you alive if I could.”

Her fingertips itched to slap him right across the face. Instead, she just glared back at him with her chest heaving. They stared at each other for another long beat, neither one willing to give up the little traction they’d gained. Finally, Allie gestured with her head to the exit.

“Well, the door is behind you,” she waved a hand toward it. “Why don’t you use it.”

Jax dipped his head back ever so slightly, his eyes trailing up and down the length of her with as much animosity as something else she couldn’t quite place churning in his dark expression. He tapped two fingers to his temple in a faux-salute and headed for the door.

“It’s been a pleasure,” he told her with that stupid smirk curving up the side of his mouth. “I hope we can do it again sometime.”

With that, he pulled the door open and shut it behind him.

Allie stared at the door for too long, teetering between wanting to scream bloody murder, cry her eyes out, or throw something right at the spot where he’d just been standing. She opted to sit back down, take a deep breath, and then got back to work instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing like a stress-induced argument with a healthy side of sexual tension ;)
> 
> Thank you again to everyone who's read/reviewed/bookmarked/left kudos on this story! I'm glad so many of you are having as much fun reading as I am writing this. The next chapter will be pretty Jax-centric, but it's kinda important to get all the right moving pieces in the right place. The chapter after that will be the merger party and Jax and Allie will come face-to-face again ;)


	4. Chapter Four

Consciousness hit him in waves. He winced, daring to pry his eyes open and squeezed them shut again as soon as light hit. It didn’t help that a splitting headache worked its way from the base of his neck all the way to the back of his eyes. His stomach was rolling. His throat felt like he’d just spent the whole night swallowing sandpaper. 

He was hungover as fuck.

Scrubbing his face with a hand, Jax glanced over to his left to find a mess of dark hair snoring soundly next to him.

Shit.

He blew out a sigh. While he wanted to pass out in bed for as long as he could today, he preferred to do it alone. So he reached out to gently shake the girl lying next to him awake. She moaned a little, shifting in bed and giving him a good eyeful of her face. Jax winced again, choosing to give her another little shake rather than focus on anything else.

“Hey,” he murmured to her.

The girl’s eyes fluttered open and the second it registered just whose bed she was currently in, her lips spread apart in a lazy grin.

“Hi,” she smiled, stretching her arms over her head with a yawn.

Yeah, they weren’t doing this right now. Probably ever again if he could help it. With that in mind, he gave her another shake and gestured with his head toward the door - wincing at the pain that shot through his temples in the process.

“Why don’t you head on out, darlin’,” he murmured, punching his pillow a little as he spoke. It didn’t help.

The girl’s face fell in disappointment, and her lips jutted out in a pout. Maybe that had worked on him last night - he couldn’t really be sure. Pieces of the night before came back in hazy flashes...he’d peeled out of the studio’s parking lot on a tear, practically shaking with rage, with half a mind to turn back around and lay into her one more time for keeping the facts to herself...and all that frustration and irritation had obviously bled through the rest of his night at the clubhouse. A half a bottle of Jack later, and this was what he’d reaped.

She slipped out from under his covers, naked as the day she was born, and tiptoed around the room, gathering her clothes as she moved. As he took in her dark, shoulder-length hair and petite frame, Jax winced again.

And he sure as shit wasn’t going to ruminate on _that_ any longer than he had to.

The girl had barely gotten her jeans pulled up over her ass when a loud knock rapped on his door. Her eyes flew to him like a deer in headlights, and she rushed to get the rest of her clothes back on. Another knock echoed through the room. Well, it looked like he was going to have to wait a little bit longer to sleep the rest of the day away.

Jax tossed his legs over the side of the bed, scooped up his boxers, and pulled them on. Then he grinned at the girl, who’d just gotten herself presentable, and pulled the door open so she could make her exit.

Unfortunately for him, his mother was waiting on the other side of the door. Gemma took one hard look at the scene in front of her and cocked a dark eyebrow his way. The girl at his side had the good sense to duck around him and scamper off without as much as a word. She was the lucky one here - from the looks of things, Jax wasn’t going to get off quite as easily.

Gemma folded her arms across her chest, appraising her son with cold judgment.

“Jackson.”

He scrubbed both hands over his eyes and dared a look at his mother. “Yeah, Ma?”

“You have approximately two seconds to get your shit together.”

Jax blew out a breath and shook his head. Nah, he wasn’t doing this right now. At least not after he popped about four aspirin and slept for another eight hours or so. Maybe then they could have it out about whatever it was she was so pissed about this morning. Or was it afternoon? He wasn’t sure.

“Ma,” he sighed, letting his head fall back against his neck in defeat. “Can we _not_ do this right now? I had a helluva night and -”

“Yeah,” Gemma grinned, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Sure looks like it.”

“I’m gonna go pass out -”

Gemma huffed out a laugh, shaking her head with a pretty self-satisfied grin as she glanced down the clubhouse’s hallway. “You’re not gonna be doin’ anything in 3, 2, 1…”

Right on cue, his wife came barreling down the clubhouse’s hallway, her face scrunched up and beet-red with unfiltered rage just as Gemma stepped out of the way. He didn’t have a chance to run for cover before a stiletto smacked him in the side of the head. Fuck! Goddammit, he was sick of this shit. And now, he’d probably have a nice little bump on the side of his head to add to the snowballing headache between his temples.

He pulled his hand away from his head, only to see some wet redness coloring his hand.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” he exhaled and glared at his wife. “Wendy, this shit has to stop.”

“ _I_ have to stop?” Wendy pointed to herself exaggeratedly and then waved her hands around manically. “What were _you_ doing last night, huh? I saw that bitch come out of your room just now, Jax. I _fucking_ saw her!”

“Yeah, well, I guess I’m sorry you didn’t show up about three minutes later then.”

He knew he’d made a mistake the second the words tumbled out of his mouth, and his reward was a hard slap across the face. Maybe he deserved that just a little. Maybe part of him had even wanted it. But she was still treading on pretty fucking thin ice.

Jax watched the way her eyes darted wildly around the room, as if she was looking for more evidence of his crime, and when his gaze zeroed in on the way her fingers twitched at her sides, he grabbed her by the arm to haul her closer. He pushed up her sleeve, turning it a little too roughly to search for any trace of tracks. 

Wendy tried to jerk her arm out of his grasp, but he just bared down even tighter, this time, grabbing her other arm to run the same inspection. When he found nothing, Wendy shoved herself out of his grip and he let her stumble back against the door.

“I’m not…” she trailed off. Her eyes were swimming with unshed tears, and maybe a year ago, he might’ve cared a little bit more, might’ve felt just a tiny bit more guilty. 

“You’re not what, Wendy?”

Wendy’s features hardened as she glared back at him. “I’m _not_ using again, Jax.”

“You sure?”

“Yes,” she spat back. “I’m sure. I went to a meeting when you didn’t come home last night. I had a whole spread ready to go for you, just sitting on the table waiting for you to show up, but you couldn’t even do that, could you? You couldn’t be bothered to come home for once and spend some time with your wife. You were fucking some random bitch instead! So, I went to a meeting because I didn’t wanna be sitting in our house all by myself anymore.”

Jax took a deep breath as all that washed over him. The words were right on the tip of his tongue - he knew exactly what he wanted to say to her, what he wanted to do, but every time he almost got the nerve to pull the trigger, she went and did something like this.

The truth was, he didn’t hate Wendy. He didn’t want to hurt her anymore than he had to. He didn’t want her to hurt herself. He just didn’t love her. He didn’t think he’d ever really loved her, but that was beside the point.

He wanted her out of his house and out of his life, but every time he was ready to scream in her face that he was done, a flicker of worry nagged at him. Jax knew exactly what would happen if he really pulled the trigger. And that was why he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Wendy knew it too.

And at this point, if whatever was left of this sham of marriage was enough to keep her on the wagon, then who was he to deny her that?

“Look, Wendy,” he murmured, holding his hands up in defense. “I didn’t know you had all that planned, okay?”

“Bullshit, Jax! I called you a million times yesterday. I texted you just as many times too. So, don’t stand there and act like you didn’t know. You _knew_ I wanted you to come home last night and you chose not to anyway.”

He swallowed hard, jerking both hands through his hair with a deep breath. He knew what she wanted him to say to that - _I’m sorry. I want to make this work. I’ll do better. I love you._

He’d given up the lies a few weeks ago and opted for deflection instead. Helluva lot of good that was doing.

So, instead, he went for the next best thing: “What do you want me to do here?”

Wendy just shook her head, her eyes watering a little, and when she looked up at him again, he felt his heart drop into his stomach.

“I want you to come _home_. Just...please. Will you come home tonight?”

He wavered, knowing that any answer he gave her wouldn’t be the right one in the long run. But given what she’d basically walked in on before, they were still married. She was still his wife. And because of that, he knew what he had to say.

Jax swallowed tightly. It wouldn’t feel good, and it definitely wouldn’t make him happy to say it, but he was going to do it anyway.

“Okay.”

* * *

_The Next Day_

Jax took a long pull from his cigarette, exhaling the smoke through his nose wearily. How he’d managed to survive the last two days was probably a goddamn miracle, let alone the fact that he was even standing here on two feet and not facedown on the bed in his dorm room. Like he’d promised, he went home to Wendy the night before and had had a terse, tension-riddled dinner followed by a sleepless night in bed next to her. Even Wendy had been self-aware enough to sense the mood wasn’t exactly right and hadn’t pushed for anything more. Now, seeing as how she’d already texted him twice today to see when he was coming home again, he wished he’d told her no.

But at least now he was in the process of actually getting something accomplished right now.

With Opie, Chibs, and Tig out on a run, it’d been left to the remaining club members to sit tight for this meeting at the clubhouse. Juice had managed to not only get in contact with the PI in record time, but he’d also nailed him down for a meeting too. Luckily enough for them, the PI was based out of San Francisco and so it wasn’t too much of an ask to get him to Charming for the initial meet-and-greet.

If the club could get this squared away, then they’d be one step closer to making progress on _something_ . They were this close to putting an offer down on a few rows of storage units just outside of town, but they had to untangle the red tape first. Jax didn’t know the first thing about inspections or any of the paperwork that it would take to get this deal off the ground - and he didn’t really want to - but he also didn’t appreciate that Rosen seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace. It was almost as if Rosen didn’t really give a shit that the club was trying to go legit, or even worse, that he didn’t _want_ them to. Jax had barely gotten him on the phone for five minutes to talk and they’d been playing phone tag with each other ever since.

His prepay buzzed inside his cut, and he had to shake his head at the irony of who just happened to be texting him right now. With a healthy mix of irritation and curiosity, Jax flipped open his prepay to read her message.

_Knocked out a few more OSHA issues. Just a few left but don’t anticipate any problems. All actors’ contracts are back now. We should be good to roll the cameras next week._

After their initial disagreement - Allie referred to it as a “miscommunication,” but he didn’t exactly see it that way - about how studio business was going to be handled from now on, she’d started off by sending him an email update, quickly learned he didn’t speak email, and resorted to texting him instead. At this point, Jax knew it was just a formality to keep him in the loop. She didn’t need or want his help, and because she was good at her job, she would handle the issues Luann left in her wake without batting an eye.

She also continued to flatly refuse any more of the club’s money for her time in straightening out Luann’s tangled web. As much as it pissed him off, it just didn’t sit right to know she was pulling 14 to 16-hour days to get _their_ investment in shape to actually run a profit - Opie had wisely advised him to just leave that particular detail alone, and he’d decided to listen. If she wanted to put in those kinds of hours and refuse the extra payday, then that was on her. Pretty damn stupid, but still on her.

_Good,_ he texted back, glancing up at the black Trans Am that pulled into T-M’s parking lot. This must be the guy.

His lips quirked up at the corner of his mouth when she didn’t respond. Maybe she was right - maybe it really was for the best if they just kept these exchanges to text messages. He had a feeling that if he heard her voice right now - let alone had to see her in person - he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from needling and poking until she snapped.

They already had to see each other at the merger party tomorrow. And the thing was, he _liked_ that he’d gotten under her skin two days ago. He _liked_ that she’d been practically vibrating with fury. That had been especially entertaining. For a second there, he’d thought she might actually slap him right across the face too. But then again, Allie was nothing if not the picture of rigid professionalism and in-your-face intelligence. If she was going to slap him, she was smart enough not to do it when she was working. He might even kinda like getting slapped by her anyway.

He snapped his prepay shut and tossed it back inside his cut, pushing off the picnic table where he’d been waiting for their guest, and strode into the parking lot to greet him.

Jax didn’t know a whole lot about this private investigator, and he figured the intel Juice had on this guy was enough - he kept his nose down, stayed under the radar, and got the job done. He also had plenty of experience with jobs that needed to be handled with _sensitivity_ from what Juice had gathered. At the end of the day, that was all that really mattered.

He tossed his burning cherry to the pavement and reached out to shake his hand.

“Hey,” he nodded in greeting. “Jax Teller.”

The private investigator had a damn firm handshake, and nodded back to him. “Tyler Harrison.”

“Good to meet you. Thanks for coming down to talk to us,” then Jax gestured to the clubhouse with his head. “We can head this way.”

The two men easily fell into step, and Jax took those few moments to quietly appraise the club’s soon-to-be hired hand. Dressed in a pair of grey suit pants, white button-up, and black tie, Tyler Harrison looked just inconspicuous enough to blend in just about anywhere, an overwhelming plus for a private investigator. He looked to be about the same age as Jax too, old enough to have had plenty of experience in his line of work, but still young enough to poke around where he needed to without drawing too much attention to himself. And with his dark coloring and athletic build, Jax figured Tyler probably drew on those traits when he needed to as well.

The club needed this guy to be _their_ guy, to do what no one else could, and they needed him to do it quickly and efficiently.

Jax pushed through the clubhouse’s doors with their soon-to-be PI right on his heels, and he gestured to a nearby booth where Bobby, Juice, Happy, and Piney were already waiting. After the obligatory introductions, they all sank into the booth and got down to business.

“Thank you again for takin’ the time to meet with us,” Jax told him as a prospect set a round of beers in front of them.

“No problem - feel free to call me Harrison, too. Everyone else does,” he flashed them a grin, smoothing his tie down as he spoke. “And please, ignore the monkey suit. My costumes for business meetings and recon work are two different things, if you know what I mean.”

That got a round of low chuckles from around the table, and Jax tipped his chin to him.

“So how is this gonna work?”

Harrison nodded, folding his hands across the table to signal that the niceties weren’t necessary anymore. “It’s probably for the best if you don’t know exactly how I find my intel, and honestly, you don’t really need to.”

Jax glanced around the booth to gauge their reactions, and nodded when he found nothing but agreement.

“I looked over everything you sent me about this guy,” Harrison pressed on, nodding to Juice. “This was real good work you did there, and knowing what avenues you’ve already taken is gonna save me significant time. Now, I’m not gonna sit here and bullshit you. Your guy might be gone. Okay? Whether he’s in the ground or vanished into thin air...there’s no easier way to say that.”

Jax nodded grimly. Yeah, he knew that too. It was best to just get all that out of the way.

“But,” Harrison continued. “I have certain methods and certain resources that afford me a little...leeway, I suppose, in the ground I can cover. I’m not gonna make any promises I can’t keep, especially since I haven’t started my own work on this yet, and because of that, I don’t accept any payments until I’ve found a lead.”

So this guy obviously knew what he was doing. Jax took a long pull from his beer, scanning the reactions of his brothers around the table, and saw what he already felt. They were dealing with an experienced private investigator who was good enough at his job not to take any money until he had something to show for his work...in other words, he would find them a lead because he wanted to get paid.

“Fair enough,” Jax lifted his chin in agreement.

“Alright,” Harrison nodded and blew out a deep breath. “I’ll go to work on this. You can expect weekly updates, if not more, depending on how the investigation goes. If and when I get a hit on something, I’ll let you know as soon as I work out exactly what it is and verify that it’s legit.”

“And how do we get the intel?” Juice asked from across the booth.

“When I’ve got something, I’ll drive it down to you. I don’t think any of us at this table want a paper trail, and I’d rather bring it to you in person so I can explain what it is and answer your questions.”

Jax grinned good-naturedly. “And so you can get _paid_ in person too.”

Harrison tossed him back an easy smile. “Yeah, that too. It is a business, you know? But I don’t take your trust or your money lightly,” he glanced around the clubhouse warily, “I know who you are. I’ve done my background checks, my due diligence that way, and I understand what your expectations are here. Whatever you need this intel for...that’s none of my business and none of my concern.”

Jax found himself nodding in agreement before he even had a chance to glance around the booth. They’d all already made up their minds anyway. This was the only path forward and the only real option they had left.

He reached inside his cut for his cigarettes, pulled one out, and lit it. Jax waited just long enough for the hit of nicotine to course through him, and then he nodded.

“We’re good with movin’ forward on this. How long you willin’ to do the work?”

Harrison just lifted a shoulder. “I work for you, so I’ll work as long as you want me to. Of course, if the work leads me to a gravesite, that’s a different story, but I’m in as long as you are.”

“Alright,” Jax lifted a shoulder and then reached out a hand. “Let’s get this done.”

They shook hands, and then Harrison shook the rest of his brothers’ hands to seal the deal. As they pushed out of the booth, Harrison’s eyes widened a little at the sight of the three croweaters who’d gathered by the bar, clearly waiting for club business to end so they could pounce.

Of course, the only clothing they were wearing barely covered all the important parts, and for someone who maybe wasn’t quite as used to this environment as he wanted to let on, the clubhouse could be a lot to take in all at once.

“Shit,” Harrison muttered under his breath, jerking a thumb in the girls’ direction. “You guys are just rollin’ in the pussy around here, aren’t you?”

Even Happy cracked a smile at that. Jax clapped a hand on Harrison’s shoulder with a laugh.

“Tell ya want, bro,” Jax told him as he brought his cigarette to his lips. “You find our guy,” he gestured to the girls who’d gathered around the bar, “and you can have any girl in here ya want.”

Harrison huffed out a laugh and shook his head. “Maybe I’ll take you up on that.”

“Maybe you should.” 

They shook hands one last time before Harrison shot him a mock-salute, signaling he was off to work, and then he walked out of the clubhouse. Jax’s eyes followed him as he left, reveling in the feeling that bubbled up inside him.

Hope was a strange thing. It could be as fleeting as it was inspiring, as dangerous as it was shrewd. 

After all, you could shit in one hand and hope in the other to see which hand filled up faster. And Jax knew better than to expect everything to turn out the way he wanted it to. The life had taught him that. The deaths of both club presidents before him had taught him that too.

But he had to believe this was a turning point for the club. That once the dust settled and Darby was in the ground where he belonged, the club would move on and it would prosper anew.

He hoped.

* * *

By the time Jax needed to make the call - whether he was going home to Wendy or staying in the safety of the clubhouse - he decided not to decide. Instead, he opted to take the night off from all that and headed to Gemma’s house. Maybe if he was lucky, and really nice to her, she would cook him dinner. And maybe if he was really lucky, she’d let him crash in his old bedroom.

Wishful thinking, but a guy could hope. He’d been doing a lot of that today and figured he might as well ride it out.

Jax used his key to open the side door through Gemma’s kitchen, finding nothing but silence in the room and some dirty dishes in the sink. Gemma prided herself on keeping a clean house, so that wasn’t exactly the norm, but she had to cut herself some slack right now too. She’d just lost her second husband in the worst possible way - there was no goodbye, no last words, no last embrace. Just a dead body to pick up from the morgue.

“Ma?” he called out in the silence.

Familiar worry crept into the back of his throat, and he tapped two fingers on the Glock inside his cut, waiting on the ready in case he needed it. 

It was just too quiet in this house. 

He eased his way through the kitchen, careful to make too much noise in case there was something - or someone - inside this house that needed to be dealt with. Now, he slipped the Glock out of his holster and gripped it with both hands, keeping it low and steady. 

Jax crept down the hallway, glancing inside each room as he passed, and stopped at the threshold of Gemma and Clay’s bedroom. His mother was crouched inside their closet in defeat, clutching a white T-shirt to her chest as if her life depended on it. Even from across the room, he could hear her soft cries bounce off the walls.

“Ma?”

Gemma’s head whipped around in surprise, and she started a little like she’d just had a heart attack. “Jesus, Jackson! You scared the shit outta me.”

“Sorry,” he smiled sadly. When her eyes dropped to the Glock in his hand, he carefully slipped it back inside his cut. “It was a little too quiet in here.”

She nodded in understanding. She knew just as well as he did that there were certain risks involved with the life they lived. And, given that she was the wife of two former presidents and the mother of the current one, Gemma would always have a target on her back and they knew it.

“I’m alright, Jax,” she sighed. “I appreciate the gesture, I guess.”

Jax leaned against the doorway, careful to give her space, but also needing her to see he wasn’t leaving. “You sure you’re alright?”

Gemma swallowed tightly, quickly wiping away the tears that had tracked down her face, and she sniffed in defiance. _Damn those tears,_ she’d say. _Doesn’t do anybody any good._

He smiled a little, in spite of everything, and decided to press his luck by pushing off the doorway to meet her in the closet. Jax sank to his knees and gently pried the Samcro T-shirt from her fingertips.

“I was…” Gemma started shakily. She took a deep breath to regain her bearings, and when she spoke again, her voice was steadier and smoother than before. “I thought it was maybe time to start packing some of his clothes away. See if you or any of the guys wanted anything...I just…” her voice broke again, and he gently pressed a hand to her shoulder to remind her he was still there. “I never thought I’d have to do this again, you know? Packing away another husband’s clothes...another empty bed, another empty house. I don’t know if I can survive it a second time, Jax.”

“You can,” Jax reassured her gently, moving his hand to her cheek. “You _will._ You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met. There’s nothing you can’t handle and nothing you can’t survive.”

Gemma huffed out a laugh and her hand shot out to wipe away another stray tear. “I’m glad one of us has faith in me.”

“I’ve never doubted you before,” he grinned at her. “Why would I start now?”

That got him another laugh, and he squeezed her shoulder supportively. 

“You know,” he pressed on softly. “You don’t have to do this right now if you’re not ready. You can let his clothes and his things sit in this house for as long as you want them to. And when you _are_ ready, you gimme a call and we’ll do it together.”

Gemma pushed out a haggard breath, her eyes still lingering on the hangers filled with her dead husband’s clothes, and then she finally nodded.

“We’re gonna get him,” Jax continued. Maybe it was too early to do this, but he had to give her something. “We made moves today to get a private investigator involved and this guy...he’s the best, Ma. He’ll find Darby,” Gemma’s eyes closed at the mention of that name, “and then we’ll go to wherever he is and we’ll kill him. _I’ll_ kill him. He will answer for this with his life, Gemma. I promise you that.”

She swallowed back another round of tears, finally letting herself fall into his arms. She had to let go eventually, to find some way to move on, and Jax knew there was no way she could do that as long as Darby was still breathing.

“Will you stay, Jax? I don’t wanna be alone in this house right now.”

“Ma, I’ll stay as long as you need me to.”

Gemma huffed out a laugh, pushing out of his arms a little to shove him in the shoulder. “Yeah, you’d like that, wouldn’t you? I’m not gonna make it that easy for you, Jackson. Not after the shit that went down yesterday.”

Jax pushed out a long sigh. She was right - she always was. At this point, he’d take one night away from everything else as the gift it was. Gemma’s fingertips brushed along his chin to pull his gaze to her.

“Look, Jax,” she told him, her dark eyes serious with finality. “I’m only gonna say this to you one more time, and then I’m gonna stay out of this shit as much as humanly possible.”

He pulled his gaze away in defense, not wanting to go there right now, but Gemma just gripped his chin tighter to hold him in place and to force him to hear her.

“You’re not doin’ her any favors by pullin’ this shit. You’re just making it worse. Sooner or later, she’s gonna walk in on you with some croweater one too many times and that’s gonna send her over the edge. I know you don’t want that, and I know that’s why you haven’t cut ties with her yet, but baby, you are _not_ helping her right now.”

Jax swallowed hard, and Gemma didn’t give an inch.

“You’re not happy, Jax. You _can’t_ be happy this way. And there’s no way Wendy is happy this way either. What you two are doin’ is no marriage. It’s fucking stupid is what it is. So you either need to figure out if there’s anything there worth saving or you need to do yourself a favor and end this before it gets worse...but judging by the way you’re looking at me now, I don’t think there’s anything left to save, is there?”

He looked away for a long moment, and finally, shook his head.

“You know Wendy’s not gonna be the one to cut the cord. You’re gonna have to be the one that does it. You can still support her. You can still try to be there for her, if that’s what you really wanna do. But that does _not_ mean you still have to be married to her.”

“But if she -”

“If she starts using again,” Gemma told him gently, but firmly. “That’s not on you. That’s on her. You can’t control her. You can drive her to rehab yourself if you want, but you are not the responsible party if she decides to ruin her life again. And you can’t let her bring you down with her.”

He had to look away again. He knew all this already, but that didn’t make it any easier to hear. 

“Look, Jax. I know you care about her. I know you don’t want to see her back in rehab. But, baby, you don’t love her.”

Jax sucked in a shaky breath. He really hated that she was always right all the time.

“Now that you’ve got the gavel, there’s nothing wrong with really settling down and planting some roots. You can’t do that if you’re still tied to Wendy, baby. You should be free to do what’s right for you, to live your own life and find some damn happiness. And if you don’t love her, you have no business bein’ married to her.”

Then she held up her hands with a grin. “There. I said my peace. Consider me officially tapping out.”

“Sure you are,” Jax huffed out a laugh, shaking his head.

“Hey!” she smacked him on the shoulder. “I am sick and tired of having to take her whiny calls at the office when _you’re_ too chickenshit to answer.”

“Alright, alright. I hear ya. I’ll…” Jax trailed off, teetering a little between a full-out admission and full-on copout. “I’ll do somethin’. I will.”

Gemma pressed a tired smile on her face and rested a hand on his cheek. “Okay, baby. Now, you hungry?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that was pretty Jax-centric, but it was important to establish all the balls he has up in the air right now as well introduce that private investigator. The next chapter will focus on the merger party and Jax and Allie will come face-to-face again;)
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's read/commented/bookmarked/left kudos! I can't tell you how much it means to me!


	5. Chapter Five

Allie took one more long look in the mirror before batting Dan’s hand away from her hair. It was fine - or at least, as good as it was going to get. Dan had expertly styled her chestnut hair in retro waves with a deep side part - he’d even taken the extra effort to clip a section behind her ear, which just added to the 70s vibe he’d chosen for her tonight.

The party wasn’t themed, exactly. But anytime her dad threw a party at the studio, whether it was a wrap party, a premiere party, or something in between, his guests didn’t spare any glamour in their attire. Dan had gone all out himself with a full pinstripe suit and tie. Of course, a good chunk of tonight’s party guests were going to be sorely underdressed, but Allie had a feeling they wouldn’t care too much anyway.

“Now,” Dan murmured in her ear. “You. Look. _Fierce_.”

He fluffed a stray curl into place, but she swatted his hand away so she could touch up her lipstick. Still, she couldn’t stamp down the nagging feelings that had her reassessing her reflection and then reassessing it again. Although her emerald strapless dress had a beautiful sweetheart neckline, her breasts didn’t exactly fill out the top the way she would’ve liked. In fact she was pretty sure she would be the only one in the room with A cups. And while the silky fabric and ruching at her hips should’ve been curve-hugging, she really didn’t have any curves to hug. All of that wasn’t exactly doing her self-esteem any favors right now.

God, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this way. She’d been in a room filled with half-dressed, triple-D porn stars so many times she’d lost count, and until tonight, she’d never felt so inadequate at the thought of having to stand next to them. Of knowing she would stand out like a sore thumb in a crowd of them.

“My sweet little one,” Dan murmured again. “Stop second-guessing my style choices. You must never doubt my prowess.”

Allie huffed out a laugh and shook her head. “Oh, not to worry, Daniel. I would _never_ dream of doubting you.”

“That’s right. And that’s because all the makeup and hairspray in the world doesn’t matter if you don’t already have a bangin’ canvas to start with. Just sayin’.”

“Well,” Allie smiled. “You look quite stunning yourself tonight.”

Dan glanced down at his formal attire and nodded, obviously quite pleased with himself. He jutted out his elbow for her to take, and she linked arms with him, letting him lead her out of their makeshift dressing room at the studio and into the fray.

The studio’s main production floor had basically been turned into a disco floor, complete with a bar on one side of the room, an expansive dance floor in the middle, and tables and tables of food. Of course, Jimmy had taken her advice - there were just as many platters of sushi as there were wings and pizza, although they were tastefully kept apart on separate tables on opposite sides of the room. Boxes and boxes of beer bottles had also been brought in - Jimmy didn’t do keggers - along with an army’s supply of vodka and whiskey. Mixers were optional, apparently.

Luckily enough, the party was in full swing by the time they walked across the dance floor to head toward the bar, but there were still no Samcro cuts in sight. That was good. That would give her a chance to find her bearings and steel herself for whatever this party was going to bring. Judging by the way pretty much all the actors were gyrating on the dance floor with drinks in their hands already, it wasn’t going to take long for this night to go downhill fast.

When she caught Ima’s gaze from across the dance floor, Allie chose to hold the stare, daring her to engage. Finally, Ima just rolled her eyes and went back to grinding with a male actor. Allie smiled to herself - she’d take these small victories where she could get them. And when she finally let out the breath she’d been holding, Allie started to feel a little more like herself again. Insecurity slipped away, and she found herself pulling on the old familiar confidence she usually wore like armour.

She had a feeling she might need it tonight.

Dan dragged her to the bar to get them drinks - a Jack and Diet for him, and a Diet Coke for her - and before she knew it, he was twirling her around on the dance floor. Surrounded in a sea of people, with Dan right next to her, it was easy to lower her inhibitions for just a moment. She laughed and she danced, enjoying the feeling of just letting go.

Then she felt a pair of skinny arms wrap around her waist. Allie jumped a little at the contact, turning to find Lyla smiling back at her.

“Allie!” Lyla shouted happily over the pounding music. “It’s so good to see you!”

“Hi, Lyla!” she grinned back. This was one of the real positives of this merger - and she’d had to continually remind herself over the past few days at about 8:00 at night when she was still in the office. But she really did want to get to know Opie’s wife better. There hadn’t been too many opportunities for that, especially since Lyla technically worked for the competition up until now.

But of course, nothing good lasts forever. Because that was also the moment Allie’s gaze slid behind Lyla to find Samcro trailing about ten feet behind her, each club member keeping careful distance from the dance floor and letting their eyes roam around the room to appraise the party. And of course, their president was right out in front, leading the pack deeper onto the production floor.

When their eyes locked, Jax’s lips curved into a grin that was a little too sensual for her liking, and he tipped his chin to her in greeting. As his eyes swept up and down the length of her, taking in everything from the curls in her hair, the bright red stain on her lips, and the silky fabric of her dress, she felt each flick of his eyes like pin-pricks down her body.

Allie swallowed tightly and wrapped her lips around her straw to draw her attention elsewhere. Unfortunately, Lyla’s arms remained locked around her as she led Allie away from the relative safety of the dance floor and closer to where the Samcro members stood. Luckily, Opie’s eyes lit up when he saw Allie, and he leaned down to pull her into a bear hug.

“Hey, Al,” Opie murmured in her ear then he pulled back so he could grin down at her. Before he had a chance to say anything else, Dan sidestepped around her with a passive aggressive flair, holding his hand out for Opie to take.

“Hello,” Dan greeted him, grinning like a Cheshire cat as they shook hands. “You must be Allie’s former step-brother.”

Allie nudged him with her elbow, muttering, “Seriously?”

He just pressed a hand to her forehead to push her away, reaching out his free hand to Jax. “And _you_ must be the president.”

Jax grinned good-naturedly and shook his hand. “That’s right.”

“ _So_ good to meet both of you,” Dan’s head whipped to Allie to give her a pointed look as he spoke. “Finally.”

Allie blew out an exasperated breath, acutely aware of the amusement written on Jax and Opie’s faces. But she took her cue and gestured to Dan, “This is Dan Matheson. He’s one of our finest working actors here at the studio.”

“And?” Dan prompted.

Alllie rolled her eyes a little but pressed on. “And my roommate and best friend.”

“Nice to meet you,” Jax tipped his chin with a grin, but she did not like that his eyes flickered back to her as he spoke. Then Jax finally shifted his gaze to Dan in cool appraisal, tilting his head to the side in thought. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of your movies.”

Dan barked out a laugh, shaking his head. “Oh no, I can’t imagine you would have. But, don’t worry. That can easily be remedied.”

When Jax cocked an eyebrow at him in confusion, Allie knew this was all about to snowball fast if she didn’t intervene.

“Oookay,” Allie exhaled and gently pushed Dan away from their audience. “We’re moving on now. Moving _on_.”

When they were a safer distance away, Allie dared a glance over her shoulder, only to find that Jax was still observing her with a playful smile dancing on his lips.

“You’re no fun,” Dan leaned down to mutter in her ear. “Seriously. Way to kill my buzz.”

“Hey, you were the one making a fool of yourself, not me.”

Dan just batted a hand at her in exasperation. A beat later, he gestured with his head toward the dance floor as if nothing had happened. Allie shook her head, holding up her almost-empty glass, and then weaved around the crowded floor to sidle up to the bar again. When she finally elbowed her way to a few free inches of bartop, she set her glass down, leaning onto the counter.

She lifted a hand to try to get one of the bartender’s attention but got nothing. Allie huffed a little - it wasn’t like she expected any of them to know who she was or give her any kind of special treatment, but it was clear the triple Ds next to her were hogging all the bartender real estate. Go figure.

Soft fabric brushed against her bare arm, and she turned her head to find a certain blonde biker crowding her personal space. He winked at her and then whistled loudly. Even above the pounding music, a bartender’s head whipped around, his eyes widening a little at the sight of the Reaper cut at the bar. The bartender wasted no time, slapping the drinks in his hand down by two of the actors, and wiped his hands on the front of his pants to make a beeline over to them.

“What can I get ya?”

Jax glanced down at her with a wry grin before tipping his chin to the bartender, signaling she was supposed to order first.

She rolled her eyes at that and then just shrugged. Might as well take advantage of the bartender’s attention. “Diet Coke, please.”

When her eyes flicked back at Jax, his lips curled in patronizing amusement. He was even chewing on his bottom lip like he was trying to bite back a laugh. Then his eyes shifted to the waiting bartender, “I’ll take a Bud.”

As the bartender scampered off to get their drinks, Allie took a deep breath for some strength. She didn’t want to have to look at him again if she could help it, but given their current proximity, that was going to be pretty damn difficult. With his flannel-covered shoulder pressed up against her bare one, her heart fluttered traitorously in her chest. Still, she kept her eyes fixed in front of her, counting down the seconds until she had her drink and could make a clean getaway.

Allie tried to shift ever so slightly to give herself a little personal space, but her skin burned at the brief loss of feeling that worn cotton on her shoulder. She swallowed tightly and bit down on her bottom lip, tilting her head nonchalantly as they waited in silence. When someone jostled Jax from the other side, there was no escaping it. His hip bumped into her side, and she stiffened when his calloused fingertips brushed her bare back to steady himself.

She didn’t like this. Didn’t like the way his fingertips lingered on her skin a beat too long. Didn’t like the way her breathing was just a touch too ragged. Didn’t like the way her heart stuttered and her cheeks burned. Didn’t like the way the scent of gasoline and musk filled her senses. He was too close. Too, too close.

And before she could stop herself, Allie’s eyes drifted away from the counter in front of her and hesitantly shifted to Jax. He’d been watching the bartender, who still hadn’t materialized with their drinks, but when he felt her eyes on him, his gaze dropped down to her almost immediately. His mouth curled to one side, arrogantly pleased with himself as if he could tell exactly the way his closeness was affecting her, as if he _liked_ the way his closeness set her off-balance.

Their drinks mercifully appeared on the countertop, and a few of the people on the other side of her walked away, leaving space for an easy exit. Just as she wrapped her hand around her drink, a group of bleached blonde actors jumped into the empty space, and not only knocked over the drink in her hand but sent her falling backward, right into Jax’s leather and flannel covered chest.

She steadied herself just as quickly, refusing to give him another opportunity to touch her and yet another victory.

“Oh, sorry!” Lyla called out to her and waved brightly. Lyla was sandwiched between a few of the girls who’d just ran up to the bar, and Allie shot her a sheepish wave. None of this was Lyla’s fault, but she wanted out of this situation as soon as humanly possible.

“Hi, Jax!” Lyla grinned at him, waving at him too before pushing out her breasts a little to get a bartender’s attention. She gestured to the line of people at the bar, Allie and Jax included, and yelled to the bartender, “Shots! Let’s do some tequila! Nooo training wheels!”

The girls next to them whooped and cheered, swaying happily to the Ke$ha song blaring over the loudspeakers. Allie swallowed hard - even the sight of the tequila bottle sent a wave of nausea down her spine - and shook her head almost instantaneously. Whether the bartender saw it or not, he dutifully filled the shot glasses, expertly moving from one to the other.

Allie waved her hands in front of her, trying to signal she didn’t want this, and attempted to yell over the music, “Oh no...no, thank you.”

Lyla’s eyes widened a few feet away and her mouth parted in realization. “Aw, shit...I forgot you don’t drink, Allie. I’m so sorry!”

Just as she started to reply that it was fine, that it wasn’t a big deal, soft flannel brushed over the tops of her breasts as Jax reached in to scoop up the tequila shot sitting in front of her. Allie’s head whipped around to face him, her cheeks burning and her skin flushed, and his eyes never left hers as he downed the shot meant for her, grabbed the glass sitting in front of him and then downed that one too.

Then the son of a bitch winked at her.

And now, after all that, she still didn’t have a goddamn refill. But seeing as how she wasn’t about to wait around for another, Allie took the opening and got the hell out of there.

* * *

By the time Dan dragged her out onto the dance floor again, this time so he could playfully force her to help him show off their Zumba moves to “Despacito,” Allie’s feet were throbbing and all the smoke coursing through the room was giving her a killer headache. She’d also eaten so much sushi she thought her stomach might explode. But she powered through it for his sake - Dan was having the time of his life tonight, moving around the crowd like the social butterfly he was, and chatting up a storm with as many people as he could. Allie, on the other hand, would’ve been perfectly happy to play the role of wallflower instead.

Dan, of course, wasn’t about to let that happen, which was why he was currently making her laugh so hard she had to hold her side with one hand and grab onto his shoulder for support with the other.

He finished off a few cha cha moves as the song ended, and the music cut out. The crowd chattered a little at the silence, and Allie was acutely aware of the leather cuts gathered just ten feet away. Definitely close enough to observe the dance floor with a pretty unobstructed view. Too close. Definitely too close.

When her dad stood up on a chair with a microphone in hand, the crowd chatter died out. While the party had already raged on for a few hours now, Allie knew he’d planned to wait until the right moment - or, until there’d been ample time for drinking - before making his big speech. Right about now, Allie was also particularly glad that Luann had chosen to sit this party out - if she hadn’t, that would make whatever he was about to say really uncomfortable.

“Thank you all for coming tonight,” Jimmy started, his deep voice booming from the loud speakers. “This has been a long time coming. It’s no secret we’ve been talking with Cara Cara for years to finally get off the pot and do this already. And now, we can thank our new partners,” he gestured to the club members standing off to the side, “for helping us finally seal the deal.”

The sight of so many Reaper cuts all gathered together like that was intimidating enough on its own. When they all lifted their beer bottles to toast in unison, they looked practically lethal. And try as she might, she couldn’t stop the way her eyes drifted to the back of Jax’s blonde head. While he wasn’t the tallest in the group - Opie won that by a mile - his presence was prominent, almost larger-than-life, and it was enough to fill the entire production floor. It also didn’t help that more than a few of the female actors had worked their way into the Samcro gathering. Several club members already had their arms strewn around some of the girls’ shoulders, as if claiming their property for the night, and Allie sucked in a deep breath when Jax’s head dipped down to hear what a short brunette was whispering in his ear.

“Tonight marks a new era,” Jimmy went on, proudly gazing out at the crowd in front of him. “With our new actors and new production team, the possibilities for our new enterprise are endless. We’ve already prided ourselves on producing Hollywood-level films with good writing, great acting, and even better fucking,” he grinned at the cheers and whistles that got him, and Allie shook her head with a grin, “and now, nothing is gonna stand in our way. We’re gonna take this industry by storm, one pussy, one dildo, and one anal shot at a time!”

The crowd roared, lifting their drinks in the air, and cheering as Jimmy jumped down from the chair. He clapped Jax on the shoulder before pulling him into a bro-hug, murmuring something into his ear that made Jax’s head tip back in laughter. After Jimmy shook hands with the remaining club members, a busty blonde sidled up to him and wrapped a slinky arm around his waist. Allie watched just long enough to see the blonde lead her dad away into a dark corner of the production floor to know it was about that time to leave.

Dan was on the other side of the dance floor, chatting up his scene partner for next week, so she shot him a quick text to let him know she was ready to go. All she had to do was run to the bathroom and then she was in the clear.

She practically ran down the long hallway, purposely choosing the bathroom closest to her office because it would also be the quietest. And as she stepped back into the hallway, Allie was momentarily distracted by straightening her strapless dress when she smacked straight into an annoyingly familiar chest that just happened to be covered in leather and flannel.

Of course, she bounced off that hard chest like a ping pong, but his hands shot out to her waist to steady her before she could tumble to the floor. Part of her was almost surprised he hadn’t let her drop to her knees in front of him. She had a feeling he would’ve enjoyed that a little too much.

“Whoa,” Jax murmured. “Easy there, darlin’.”

His hands slipped from her waist to her bare shoulders and gave them a little shake as if to make sure she was really okay to stand on her own.

“Thanks.”

Her shoulders burned underneath his touch, not liking how easy it was for him to touch her, and she had to shift a little to get out of his grip. Jax held up both hands in surrender, taking a careful step back with a good-natured grin, and then slipped his hands inside his front pockets.

“So,” he tipped his chin to her as he spoke. “You havin’ a good night?”

Allie shrugged, more than a little irritated that the smile quirking up his lips showed no signs of disappearing. “Sure. How about you?”

“Ah,” he rocked back on his heels and lifted a shoulder. “It started a little slow, but it’s lookin’ up.”

She swallowed tightly, not willing to give in and give him the reaction he was definitely looking for. It was clear he was just trying to ruffle her feathers and get under her skin - and, almost as if he could read her thoughts, that grin on his handsome face just widened.

Then he surprised her by pulling a joint out of the pocket inside his cut and offered it out to her. “How ‘bout a celebratory toast between partners?”

“Well,” Allie huffed out a laugh and crossed her arms across her chest. His eyes practically lit up at the movement. “You and _my father_ are partners now. I just drafted the paperwork.”

“Sure,” he drawled easily. “And you had nothin’ to do with the deal, right?”

Allie just lifted a shoulder. “Doesn’t matter.”

He nodded in amusement, his lips twisting up into a cocky smile, then he just shrugged again. After unearthing a lighter from that front pocket in his cut, he brought the joint to his lips, lit it, and took a long toke before offering it out to her one more time. Allie wavered, momentarily frozen with indecision. While his offer was a little enticing, especially since she was leaving soon and that might actually help her get some sleep tonight, there had to be some kind of catch, right? Some kind of trap?

He wanted to see what she would do. Wanted to poke and prod to see how she would react like they were kids on a playground, not adults in an even more adult environment. And he probably thought, since it was painfully clear by now she didn’t drink, that she had to be a prude. Incapable of letting loose and having any fun.

Against her better judgment, she slipped the joint from his fingertips, brought it to her lips, inhaled, then inhaled one more time just to ensure a good night’s sleep, and then handed it back to him. Her eyes widened a little when he wrapped his lips around the joint again, and her mouth parted so she could suck in a breath. There was just something...wildly erotic about seeing his lips wrapped around the very thing she’d just had her own lips on, and she swallowed as her cheeks flushed and burned.

The hallway walls seemed a little hazy around them now, and she didn’t miss the fact that he seemed closer to her somehow, like he’d taken a stealthy step in without her realizing. For a split second, her heart leapt into her throat at the way he crowded her personal space. Fear pricked down her spine and held her frozen to the ground. It was irrational - she knew that. Knew that this was as far as he was going to push, as far as he was going to take this. But that didn’t stop the panic forcing her throat to close. She had to squeeze her eyes shut until that familiar feeling slipped away. When she forced her eyes open again, any remaining fear fell to the wayside.

Had she been in this situation with anyone else, she would’ve been running for the hills, let alone triggered enough to induce about a week’s worth of sleepless nights. But right at this moment, she felt like she was standing on the precipice of a cliff...and that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Terrifying, but not necessarily as bad as the alternative.

And if he’d picked up on any part of the rollercoaster she’d just been on, he didn’t show it.

Jax’s voice floated out through the haze. “So, you plannin’ to stick around for awhile tonight?”

“Ah,” she smirked. “I just saw my dad get pulled into a very dark corner by a very blonde barely-dressed actor...that’s usually my cue to leave.”

“Fair enough,” Jax laughed and shook his head, but a moment later, his tone turned a little more serious. “You need someone to walk you out? Make sure you get to your car okay?”

“I’m good.”

Jax appraised her, cocking his head to the side as his mouth quirked again. “I bet there’s nothin’ a man can do for you that you can’t do for yourself, huh?”

The way he was looking at her now, almost as if she was good enough to eat, sent a wave of pinpricks through her body. He was just itching to get slapped. Just begging for some kind of reaction from her - whatever it was, she was sure he would get way too much satisfaction from it. So Allie took a deep breath and steeled herself.

“I think I should probably head out now.”

He just grinned back at her, and unfortunately, they both shifted to the same side at the same time - he’d been trying to move so she could pass by him, but she’d stupidly missed the cue.

“Oh, there you are!” Dan’s voice bounced off the walls.

Both Allie and Jax turned at the sound of his voice, and she winced a little at the shit-eating grin that stretched across Dan’s face at the sight of them alone in an empty hallway together.

“So,” Dan started again as he closed the distance between them and pressed the top of his hand to his chin. “Whatcha guys doin’?”

Allie’s mouth parted to respond, but Jax beat her to the punch.

“I was just askin’ Allie here if I could make sure she made it to her car in one piece.”

Dan’s dark eyes flashed. “Well, I think that’s a _wonderful_ idea.”

“No -” she tried, but he just ignored her and pressed on.

“You know, I still have to grab my bag and clean up all the makeup we left in that dressing room,” Dan sidestepped around them as he spoke, gesturing for them to head the other direction. “Why don’t you get her to the car and...I’ll just make sure I have all our stuff and will come on out when I’m good and ready.”

For a moment, Allie teetered on her heels. There was something she wanted to say but couldn’t quite get the words out. Things had just sort of leveled out now, and all that was left was some haziness. She laughed a little to herself, wobbling again on those sky-high heels Dan had insisted she wear.

Jax appraised her with a knowing grin and then pointed a ringed finger at her. “Were you plannin’ to be his DD tonight, darlin’?”

Catching on in a flash, Dan’s eyes widened a little at the word darlin’ before shifting his overly delighted gaze back to her. “What is going on here?”

The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them: “I smoked pot.”

Then she made the mistake of turning to Jax, whose eyebrows shot to his forehead in amusement. His mouth curled, biting down on his bottom lip to hide his laughter, but his shoulders were shaking, so he obviously wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding it.

Dan, on the other hand, just about fell over from the shock. “You _what_?”

Allie just shrugged, gesturing to Jax and smiling a little because her arms felt like jelly. “He gave it to me.”

“I did,” Jax grinned.

Dan’s eyes widened with unfiltered, shocked joy, and he mouthed to Jax, “ _She never does that_.”

“Hey,” Allie swatted him on the shoulder. “I’m standing right here, you know.”

That only made Jax’s shoulders shake even more, but he finally swooped in to move this along. “I’ve got some prospects sittin’ out in the parking lot for just this kind of occasion. Why don’t I have one of them drive you two home, just to make sure everyone gets there safe?”

“Well,” Dan allowed slyly. “That sounds like a _really_ great idea.”

“But my car -” Allie started to protest.

“Tell ya what,” Jax cut in with a smirk. “Why don’t you shoot me a text tomorrow whenever you want your car back, and I’ll have some of the prospects drop it off at your house.”

“That’s very generous of you,” Dan nodded solemnly.

Jax flashed him a wide grin. “I know.”

At this point, Allie was done. She batted both hands in their direction and then started to head down the hallway. There was no point in trying to argue because this was one argument she didn’t care if she won anymore.

“I’ll be there in a minute!” she heard Dan yell to her from the other end of the hallway, and she glanced over her shoulder to find Jax trailing behind her.

When she stepped back out onto the production floor, he was right on her heels. Once again, a little too close. A little too wedged into her personal space. More than a few heads turned in their direction as they worked their way through the crowd. Her cheeks seared with the realization that everyone probably thought they were leaving together, and she hoped beyond hope that those same people would also see Jax walk back inside alone after she left.

Her heel caught on a stray bottle cap, and for once, she was grateful Jax was right behind her because his hands flew to her waist to steady her before she slid down on all fours, in front of the entire party no less.

“Easy, killer,” Jax murmured in her ear.

She opted to shrug out of his grip, continuing on toward the parking lot exit without affording him a word, even as he chuckled behind her. He would like that too much, and she wasn’t about to give him yet another win tonight.

When they made it out to the parking lot, Jax stepped in front of her to take the lead, gesturing with a ringed hand to the long row of motorcycles parked off to the side. Just beyond that sat a few pickup trucks with some guys wearing bare leather cuts hanging around next to them. Jax whistled to get their attention and then he lifted his hand to point a finger down at Allie.

“Got a live one for ya, boys.”

Allie shot him a dark look, which just made the grin stretch even wider across his face, and then the only things left to do were roll her eyes and follow him to the trucks.

Jax swooped down to open one of the truck’s passenger side doors for her with an exaggerated flourish, and he held out a hand to help her into the door. Allie promptly ignored his extended hand and slid into the passenger seat, wasting no time to kick off her heels as soon as she was settled.

Unfortunately for her, Jax leaned one arm on the top of the truck, keeping the other resting on top of the passenger door, refusing to leave her damn well alone. He glanced at the prospect who was assigned to the task now and gestured to Allie.

“We’re just waitin’ for one more and then you make sure the lady and her friend get home safe, a’ight?”

The prospect didn’t hesitate, saluting Jax as he opened the driver’s side door to start up the truck. “Got it, prez.”

Then Jax turned his gaze down to her, and Allie glared back at him in annoyance. They stared at each other for a beat, Jax with that amused smirk curving up the side of his mouth and Allie trying her best to keep a straight face. Part of her wanted to laugh at the situation she’d found herself in - mostly of her own making because she could’ve easily turned him down in the hallway, but it wasn’t like she’d ever admit that out loud. The other part of her just wanted to curl up in bed and sleep the rest of this stupid night away.

And as he continued to stare down at her with that self-congratulatory smirk, Allie was just about done.

“You are such a…” she trailed off, struck by a brief moment of clarity. Finishing that sentence might not be the best idea.

Jax’s eyes flashed, and he crouched down a little to get a better look at her. “I’m such a _what_ , darlin’?”

There were so many options...dick, asshole, pot-stirrer, prick, bastard...the list went on and on, but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of hearing her say it out loud.

As if on cue, Dan pushed his way through the exit doors and stepped out, scanning the parking lot for them. Jax waved him over and then looked down at her again.

“Sweet dreams, Allie,” he murmured. He winked at her just for good measure as he moved aside so Dan could slide in and tapped two fingers to his temple in the same faux-salute he’d given her a few days ago in her office.

He really was a son of a bitch.

* * *

Jax winced a little, shifting to try to alleviate the sharp pain shooting up his lower back. He cracked an eye open, half-afraid of what he would find, and blew out a deep breath when he realized he’d passed out somewhere around the bar last night. Bobby snored heavily against his leg, and Jax kicked him playfully to jostle him awake.

Bobby started, jerking awake and glanced around in momentary confusion. When he realized where he was, he rubbed his eyes with a groan. “What a fuckin’ night.”

“Yeah,” Jax laughed. “I wasn’t expectin’ the late-night cuddle, but thanks for that, bro. I really enjoyed it.”

Bobby just huffed out a laugh before stretching his arms over his head with a yawn, his head still resting lazily on Jax’s leg. Jax promptly jerked his leg up in the air, making Bobby’s head bounce on the floor from the movement.

“Ow, ya little shit!”

Jax just laughed, rolling over to his side. He yawned, stretching his neck from side to side to try to work out the kinks. While he hadn’t exactly planned on spending the night literally on the production floor of the studio, he was grateful his sleeping partner last night had been Bobby and not anyone else. After he’d seen Allie out to one of T-M’s trucks, the rest of the night had been pretty downhill from there. More shots were poured, clothing started to fall to the ground - even the music seemed to get a little louder - as the night quickly spiraled into the debauchery it had always promised to be.

When a short brunette dressed like a 70s porn star offered to take him back to one of the dressing rooms, he’d wavered, briefly weighing his options. So he’d gotten himself another beer and when he’d turned around, the girl had Juice by the hand and was leading him down the hallway. Jax had just shrugged and went back to the party. Sure, there’d been other opportunities before the night was over, but he just...wasn’t all that interested.

And now, seeing the three missed calls and four text messages from Wendy on his prepay, he was glad it turned out the way it did.

Gemma was right. This shit really needed to stop, and he made a mental promise to do himself, and Wendy, a favor by knocking off the passive aggressive antics. It really wasn’t making anything better, and had he actually ended up in one of those dressing rooms or any other dark corner of the studio last night, it wouldn’t have made him feel any better in the morning either.

It was time he sat his wife down and had a serious, no-bullshit conversation, and he knew he needed to do it sooner rather than later. This couldn’t continue, and although it was going to hurt like hell, that band aid over the gaping hole of their relationship needed to be ripped off once and for all.

“Hey,” Bobby called out to him. “We got that fuckin’ thing today.”

Jax glanced at the time on his prepay and groaned. Shit, it was already 11:00 in the morning and they needed to have their asses sobered up and ready to meet with that real estate agent. They’d wanted to move on an offer for those storage units, but there were still a few things left to work out as far as inspections went, and Jax felt like he just needed to see the damn things one more time before pulling the trigger.

Of course, it didn’t help that the club’s lawyer had yet to return his call from the day before. Had Rosen called him back, he probably would’ve felt more confident about putting an offer in by now.

After they pulled themselves together, tiptoeing around the scattered, passed-out bodies still on the floor, Jax and Bobby headed out to the parking lot, bleary-eyed and foggy from the night before. They still had a job to do, and Opie had already shot Jax a text to let him know he was on his way to meet them at the storage units.

Besides, it wasn’t like they’d ever let a party keep them from club business before.

The drive from the studio to the storage units - which were just on the outside of Charming’s city limits - was uneventful and freeing, giving Jax the perfect opportunity to clear the cloud and get his head in the game. When they pulled into the parking lot, Opie already had his bike parked off to the side as he chatted with the real estate agent.

Jax parked his bike right next to Opie, with Bobby following in behind him, and then set off to get this meeting started. What he really needed was a cigarette, but that would just have to wait for now. He held out a hand to shake hands with the real estate agent but didn’t miss the grim expression written on Opie’s face.

Shit. Something was wrong. He had a feeling it was about to hit the fan.

“Afternoon,” the real estate agent nodded in greeting, but his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I was just telling Mr. Winston that we’ve gotten an offer on the property. I would’ve called you ahead of time, but it literally just came through when I pulled into the parking lot just now.”

Jax blew out the breath he’d been holding. He shot Bobby a quick glance, who was scrubbing his face with both hands tiredly.

“You’re welcome to put your own offer in, if that’s still your plan,” the real estate agent continued with a shrug. “The seller has 48-hours to respond - if they decide to counter, I’d think you’d have some time to slide in there with your own offer, as long as it was over asking.”

“Alright,” Jax nodded, resigned to the fact that this had all just spiraled out of control. “Thanks for the information. I guess we really don’t need this meeting then, do we?”

The real estate agent shot him a knowing grin and lifted a shoulder. “I suppose not, but feel free to call me if you’d like to send over an offer.”

He didn’t waste time hanging around the trio of angry bikers any longer than he had to, and when the dust behind the real estate agent settled, Jax clenched both hands into tight fists. Shit, he really needed to punch something right now. This was great...just fucking great. All that time spent going over the details of this potential deal, the prospective income they could’ve had coming in easily without having to do that much extra work - it had all just slipped right through their fingertips.

With nothing else to do, he pulled out a cigarette from the pack in his cut, lit it, and puffed away furiously.

“Fuckin’ Rosen,” Bobby muttered under his breath, angrily kicking a stray stone in his way.

“I’m tellin’ ya,” Jax shook his head in frustration and blew out a ring of smoke. “I’m at the end of my goddamn rope with that guy. You know I’ve been tryin’ to get him on the phone for three days about this shit and all I’ve gotten from that fucker is a shitty game of phone tag?”

Opie just blew out a deep breath and shook his head. What else was there to say?

“You know it kinda makes sense,” Bobby allowed agitatedly.

Jax tipped his chin to him. “What do you mean?”

“Rosen is used to dealing with criminal shit,” Bobby just shrugged. “He makes his money from showing up to courtrooms and bailin’ us outta jail. Where is his motivation to help us move beyond all that? We go legit, and all that work dries up for him, and pretty soon his retainer disappears too. And we all know Rosen ain’t got much of a mind for business - at least, not the kind we need.”

Opie nodded silently and shoved his hands in front pockets. Jax, on the hand, rocked back on his heels as he considered Bobby’s words. Rosen wasn’t what they needed - he’d known that for weeks. And now, because he’d dragged his feet and failed to do something as simple as return a fucking phone call, they could probably kiss this deal goodbye.

The club had known it too. That’s why they’d all unanimously agreed to offer Allie the job instead. The same job she’d refused, basically twice already. He had a feeling that, if Allie had been the one calling the shots on this deal, they would’ve had an accepted offer a week ago.

It was clear what they needed to do now. It was clear who they needed in their corner. And after all the fun he’d had at her expense last night, he had a pretty good feeling where she would tell him to shove his offer if he asked a third time.

But then his eyes fell to his vice president, and he got an idea.

“Hey, Ope?”

Opie’s gaze flicked to him, standing at the ready. “Yeah?”

Jax just grinned back. “You feel like takin’ a drive today?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Allie would probably say no to Jax every time he asked, but I think we all know who she won't be able to say no to ;)
> 
> Anyway, thank you to everyone who's read/commented/bookmarked/left kudos! I'd love to know your thoughts on this one...


	6. Chapter Six

The doorbell rang - Allie jumped a little at the sound. She’d known this was coming today. After all, the text message couldn’t have been clearer, or more abrupt. But then again, that’s usually the way this went.

She’d show up. They’d make awkward small talk. She’d collect. She’d leave.

That didn’t make anything easier, but it was better that they both knew how these visits were going to go so they could check their expectations accordingly.

Allie opened her front door to find her mother standing on the doorstep, waiting expectantly like she always did. One quick look at her told Allie everything she needed to know - her clothes looked like they’d been laundered recently, her skin was a little brighter than the last time Allie had seen her, and her hair was only a little greasy, which meant she’d probably showered within the last few days. Overall, Anna Levy looked okay. Maybe even a little better than the last time Allie had seen her.

That was good news. That meant she was doing the right thing here - that this was helping, that this was helping her mom stand on her own two feet.

“Alexandra,” Anna exhaled with a smile, and Allie had to swallow back all the emotions that came bubbling up to the surface at the sound of her voice.

“Hi, Mom.”

They stared at each other for a moment before Allie stepped to the side so Anna could enter the house. Anna walked through the entryway slowly, almost robotically, marveling at everything from the couch to the rustic fireplace, just like she always did.

_ I wonder how long it’ll take this time,  _ Allie thought wryly. It never failed, and she was sure this visit would be no different from all ones before it.

Allie trailed after her as Anna moved deeper inside the house before finally settling at one of the barstools by the kitchen island. At first glance, Allie and Anna weren’t all that different - same dark eyes, same chestnut hair, same petite frame. At one point, they’d even worked in the same industry, although Anna’s job was in front of the camera, not behind it. But that was probably where the similarities ended, and they both knew it.

There were so many ways Anna’s life could’ve been different. In the early 80s, she’d been the most in-demand actress in the industry, churning out a new film every few weeks - which, given the current safety regulations, was no longer the industry standard - and she’d been riding high on just about anything and everything a person could get high on. Then she’d met Jimmy Levy and everything had gone downhill from there.

And while Jimmy had not only survived their inevitable downward spiral into booze and drugs, but had built an empire in his rise, Anna hadn’t been so lucky.

“You know,” Anna started easily, gesturing to the expansive kitchen. “It never fails to amaze me how well you’re doing, honey. I mean, I always knew you would find success, but you’ve really come into your own.”

Allie took a deep breath. This was typical. Her mom was just buttering her up because they both knew Anna wasn’t here for a social visit.

Given that the party the night before had quickly spiraled out of her control, which was really Jax’s fault anyway, Allie was still a little dead on her feet, which were still throbbing from those sky-high heels. And being in a room filled with smoke for hours had left her feeling stuffed up and groggy. Not to mention the fact that she’d been all but strong-armed into leaving her car in the studio’s parking lot. While she’d be the first to admit she probably  _ shouldn’t  _ have driven home last night, Allie was also not going to linger on the effort Jax had taken to make sure she got home safely, or his motivations for doing it, any longer than she had to.

So, Allie reached into her purse to give her mom what she came here for. When she handed over the cash, Anna didn’t hesitate.

Now that that was over, Allie shifted to the refrigerator and started pulling out a few things to make her mom a sandwich before she left. The kitchen was silent as she worked - and really, now that Anna had her money, what was left to say? Small talk wasn’t necessary anymore, and Anna wasn’t stupid enough to leave without a free meal either.

By the time Anna had her sandwich in hand, Allie figured this was about the time the other shoe would drop.

Anna smiled with about as much warmth as she could muster, and started, “I know this is probably a lot to ask but -”

“No, Mom.”

There was no point in even letting Anna finish. Allie knew what she was going to say and her answer would always be the same. Still, her heart dropped into her stomach at the dejection coloring her mom’s face. That wasn’t what she wanted either...but there was only so much she could give.

“Well,” her mom tried again and this time, her voice shook a little. “Can’t I just -”

“No, Mom.”

Anna stared back at her with the same hurt expression she wore every time they had this conversation. It seemed like they had this conversation every time Anna came by for money too.

“Mom,” Allie began gently. “We’ve talked about this already. You know it’s not a good idea for you to stay here for a lot of reasons, and I really wish you would -”

“But it would just be for one night.”

Allie swallowed tightly and shook her head. The last time she’d agreed to let her mom crash at her house, it had been under the agreement that it would only be for a week so Anna could get back on her feet and find a new place to live. She’d been evicted from her apartment, and Allie hadn’t been able to tell her no. One week turned into three months before Allie had to resort to calling her dad for backup. The ensuing screaming match between her parents hadn’t been pretty, but it had gotten her mom out of the house.

Dan had moved in the next day, and after that, Allie promised both Dan and her dad that she’d never put herself in that position again. 

“Mom,” Allie tried again. “I’m glad to see you’re doing better. I really am. And I’m happy to help you when you need it, but you know you can’t stay here.”

That was getting harder and harder to say every time she had to say it, but she was proud of herself for doing it.

Anna sniffed a little, then held her chin high. “I understand. I’ll just...I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I’ll just figure it out, like I always do.”

This was more of a subtle approach than the usual guilt trip, but it still hit its target. Allie didn’t want to think about what her mom was going to do to  _ figure it out _ , but she’d learned the hard way that her mom couldn’t do that here. So, she just held out the bag she’d thrown together - it was just a sandwich, some fruit, and a bottle of water, but it was better than nothing and probably the best meal Anna would eat all week. 

Anna hesitated for a moment, as if she was trying to decide if the free food was worth her pride, and then she scooped up the bag.

“Thank you, honey,” Anna told her as she started moving toward the front door again. “I really appreciate this.”

Tears pricked her eyes, but she swallowed them down. It wouldn’t do either of them any good if Anna saw her cry. This is what happened after every visit anyway, and Allie had gotten pretty good at holding back her tears until her mom was out of sight.

They hugged, a little awkwardly, and Allie held the door for her. Anna gave her a small wave before heading toward a waiting sedan on the side of the road. Allie wiped a stray tear, frowning at the car - she hadn’t realized her mom had a ride, and that car definitely hadn’t been there when Anna showed up on her doorstep. What was she doing asking for a place to stay when she had a car waiting outside?

The loud roar of a motorcycle engine crackled through the air, and a beat later, a familiar figure pulled into her driveway. Allie smiled a little - while this wasn’t exactly great timing, she’d never be upset about  _ this  _ kind of a visit. Opie pulled a long leg over the side of his motorcycle, his attention shifting to the car waiting on the curb and the sight of her mom sliding into the passenger side. 

The sedan peeled away from the curb, probably right around the time the driver got a good look at the Reaper cut on Opie’s back, and sped down the street.

Opie’s solemn gaze watched the car in thought and then he turned to Allie with a hesitant smile.

“Hey, Al,” he called out and then jerked a thumb behind him. “What was that all about?”

She just shrugged. She had about two seconds to pull it together before he got close enough to realize she’d been crying, and she furiously wiped away another stray tear.

Opie frowned at the movement. “Everything okay?”

Allie nodded. That wasn’t enough to convince either of them, but it would have to do for now. She swallowed tightly, gesturing for him to come inside the house. Opie stood in her living room for all of three seconds before it was clear she’d given herself away. 

His eyes studied her carefully for a beat, and then he called out gently, “You sure you’re alright?”

All she could do was shrug. She wasn’t alright. They both knew it. What was the point of trying to hide it? When she didn’t respond, he just pulled her into a tight bear hug, squeezing just hard enough and just long enough to let her know he was there if she needed him.

They’d known each other since they were 12, and Opie knew her well enough by now to know when to push and when to give her the space she needed. So, she leaned into him, drawing on his strength and finding the support he offered.

When she pulled away, she smiled gratefully and gestured with her head to the kitchen, “Want some coffee?”

“Sure,” Opie grinned back.

He trailed after her as she moved into the kitchen and settled into the same barstool Anna had just left vacant a few minutes ago. While Allie busied herself with pouring Opie some coffee and adding a little bit of creamer for him, his deep voice called out again:

“She’s still runnin’ that game, huh?”

Allie sighed as she set the mug in front of him and leaned up against the other side of the island. “Ope, I don’t -”

“I know, I know,” he held up his hands in defense. “But I’m just curious. How much did she ask for this time?”

She kept her eyes locked on her hands as she responded. “Look, I hear this enough from my dad all the time. I really don’t need to hear it from you too, okay?”

“Alright,” Opie shrugged and pushed out a deep breath. “Fair enough, I guess. But seriously though, Al, you ever seen that guy with her before - the one drivin’ that car?”

She hadn’t gotten a good look at the driver. They’d left in a big hurry as soon as Opie pulled into her driveway, so she’d only seen enough to catch that he looked a little rough around the edges - not exactly the kind of guy she’d always hoped Anna would hook up with.

“No,” Allie shook her head. “That was new.”

Opie nodded slowly and then rubbed his mouth with a ringed hand before shifting his thoughtful gaze back to her. “If she shows up here again with that guy, you call me, okay?”

“Ope, it’s fine -”

He just huffed out a laugh and shook his head. “No, Allie, it’s really not. I don’t like you here by yourself when she shows up with her dealer. Or maybe he’s her pimp - either way, that’s definitely  _ not _ just her boyfriend, and you know that. Now, I know there’s nothin’ I’ll ever say or do that’s gonna stop you from handin’ your mom cash. I get that, okay? But if she shows up here again with that guy, you  _ will _ call me.”

His voice was just as serious, if not as lethal, as the expression in his eyes. There was no point in reminding him that she didn’t live alone, although Dan was currently at the studio getting ready for a shoot. He waited for her to give him what he was looking for, and when she nodded tightly, he nodded to himself and took a drink from his coffee mug.

Allie watched her former step-brother with a small smile. His intentions were good, just like they always were. That was hard to come by these days.

“So,” Opie started again. He set his coffee mug down and shot her an apologetic grin. “I really didn’t come here to give you a hard time. I just wanted to stop by and thank you in person for lookin’ out for Lyla the way you did with her contract.”

Allie frowned a little and shrugged. “All the actors got the same contract. I don’t -”

“Maybe it wasn’t just for Lyla,” he cut in with half a smile. “But you know what I mean. Luann was in head over ass with all that, and Lyla and me had no idea how bad it really was until all that shit came to light. Lyla’d already been signed with Luann for a few years before I met her - I’m really wishin’ I’d asked you to take a look at her contract a long time ago. I just didn’t wanna put you in a tough spot with your dad and the studio...”

“I would’ve done it, if you’d asked,” Allie nodded. “That probably would’ve saved us all a ton of time if I’d seen one of actor’s contracts  _ before  _ we started working on that partnership deal.”

Opie chuckled before taking another drink from his cup. “Well,  _ that _ being said, I really appreciate the care you’ve taken to make sure she’s safe - that all the actors she’s gonna be working with are safe. And the extra bump on her paycheck doesn’t hurt either, ya know?”

“Good. I’m glad, Ope.”

He smiled at her again with a nod. “You’re a real good lawyer, Allie.”

“Thanks,” she huffed out a laugh. While Jimmy told her all the time what a good job she was doing for him, what an asset she was to his business, he was also her father. That felt a little differently coming from Opie.

And when he fell silent across from her, Allie cocked an eyebrow at him as she lifted her coffee mug to her lips. So there was an  _ and _ . Some kind of ulterior motive for stopping by her house today. While she wasn’t sorry for the visit, Opie also didn’t make a habit of just dropping in, at least not without calling first.

“We need ya, Al.”

Her coffee mug hit the counter with a crack, and Allie shot him an exasperated glare.

“So  _ that’s  _ why you’re here,” she nodded, annoyed that she hadn’t seen it sooner. “Lemme guess, Jax told you to just...casually stop by and ask me to work for you guys again? What, was he too scared to do it himself?”

Opie’s eyebrows lifted to his forehead. “I don’t know ‘bout  _ scared _ . Hesitant is probably the better word for it.”

“Sure. Hesitant. Because he knows exactly where I’d tell him to shove his job offer.”

He bit back a grin, lifting a shoulder nonchalantly. “Look, I know you two don’t exactly see eye to eye -”

“See  _ eye to eye _ , Ope? He has been a  _ dick _ to me since the day I met him. Why would I want to work with him? I work with enough assholes the way it is. I don’t really feel like adding another one if I can help it.”

His mouth opened to respond, but he winced a little when the words wouldn’t come. He knew she was right. There was no arguing this one away.

“Wow,” Opie blew out a deep breath, shaking his head. “Okay. Well, you know...don’t take this the wrong way, but you swap out  _ dick  _ and  _ asshole  _ with something else and he could probably say the same thing about you.”

Allie started to protest, but he cut her off just as quickly with his hands held high in defense.

“I’m just sayin’ is all. Okay?” he laughed. “Maybe it’s safe to say that you both just…”

“Don’t like each other?” Allie offered wryly.

“Sure.”

Allie had very, very clear memories of Jax walking through the halls of Charming High School like he owned the place. Of course, every time they’d passed each other, she’d found someone or something to hide behind as much as she could. She didn’t want to be associated with Samcro anymore than she had to, even if that meant keeping her distance from Opie at school. And the handful of times she’d heard Jax’s voice inside their house, she’d practically hid under her bed until he left. At the time, Opie didn’t seem to mind all that much since they had their own set of friends and completely different class schedules, when he and Jax actually went to class.

Sometimes she wondered how either of them had graduated.

Still, when they did interact, Jax typically rolled his eyes whenever she spoke and acted like she wasn’t even standing there, choosing to ignore her presence rather than deign to speak to her. When he  _ did  _ notice her in the hallway, he shot her that same cocksure smirk he was still giving her now, like he was telling her,  _ you’re sooo smart, aren’t ya? _

Well, she was. She’d been the salutatorian of their class and had only missed valedictorian on a stupid technicality.

And if she was being honest with herself, every time she saw him in the hallway, her cheeks burned and her body flushed...just like they had last night. It was completely aisine to have an unmanageable, irrational crush on a guy who treated her like dirt, but by the time Jimmy and Mary got married and moved in together, forcing her to transfer schools, she’d been 14 when she came face to face with Jackson Teller for the first time. Fourteen-year-olds are stupid. And that stupidity trailed after her all the way through high school, as much as she hated to admit it.

But Allie hadn’t really  _ wanted  _ his attention then, and she certainly didn’t want it now. It was just easier to act like his presence detested her than do anything else. If he’d actually given her the time of day when they were younger, she didn’t know what she would’ve done. Probably would’ve just ran to the nearest bathroom without saying a word. That would’ve showed him.

“Can’t we just…” Opie tried again, and this time she could hear the exasperation in his voice. “Forget all that old high school shit and I don’t know, act like adults or somethin’?”

“Did you have this conversation with him too before you came over here?”

He just huffed out a laugh. “No, but I can. If that will help.”

Allie let out a shaky breath and bit down on her bottom lip. This was pretty immature - she knew that. Knew she needed to rein it in and act like an adult, like Opie had said. But that was easier said than done.

“I  _ have _ been trying to be professional around him, I really have,” she sighed. “He hasn’t been making it easy for me though.”

He frowned back at her, leaning an elbow on her kitchen island. “What do you mean?”

Her lips parted to respond, but then she found herself chewing on her bottom lip instead. Jax was arrogant and a jerk. He thought he ruled the world, or at least, the town, and that gave him license to do whatever the hell he wanted. Now that he was the big, bad biker president, that particular personality tick had only intensified. He goaded and poked and prodded to wedge himself as far under her skin as he could. Everything he’d done last night, every second of every interaction they’d had...she got the impression that had all just been one big game to him. He’d ruffled her feathers just because he could. He’d had an effect on her. He’d  _ always  _ had an effect on her, whether he knew it or not.

But how was she supposed to explain all that in a way that didn’t make her look like a complete fool?

“Look,” Opie tried again. “I know he’s never been exactly... _ nice _ , if that’s what you wanna call it. I’m not makin’ excuses for it, but did you ever think maybe some of that had to do with the way you…”

He trailed off and promptly rubbed his hand against his mouth like he wasn’t quite sure if he’d gone too far or not far enough.

“The way I what?”

Opie’s eyes flicked back to her, and he sighed. “I don’t know...you just always seemed like you were embarrassed by the club. Like you were too good for it or somethin’ back then. Maybe he didn’t exactly appreciate that.”

Her heart stuttered a little at his words, momentarily stunned by this new revelation. If Jax felt that way, that could only mean… “Did you, Ope?”

He just lifted a shoulder with feigned nonchalance. “I knew you didn’t really mean anything by it.”

“I…” Allie couldn’t find the words. She hadn’t meant for him to feel that way. Hadn’t wanted him to  _ ever _ feel like she was ashamed or embarrassed of him. But looking back at the cold shoulders she’d often resorted to as a defense mechanism, she could see how that might’ve been misinterpreted.

“I’m sorry, Ope,” she murmured. Her throat burned and tears pricked her eyes, but maybe she deserved that. Maybe she’d reaped what she’d sowed. “I never meant for...I mean, my parents were porn stars and I was the new kid, you know? Everyone thought I was in those movies too.”

Opie’s jaw clenched tightly at the memory. “Yeah. I heard those rumors.”

She sighed in resignation and lifted a shoulder. “I was just trying to survive high school the only way I knew how. The last thing I needed was to hang around with…”

She trailed off, not wanting to rub salt in an open wound.

“With a bunch of stupid, lawless bikers?” Opie finished for her with a lopsided smile.

Allie just sighed and shook her head. She didn’t really feel that way - well, at least about the stupid part. 

“I was...miserable in high school,” Allie swallowed tightly at the way his smile dropped. “Everyone knew what my parents did for a living. No one let me forget it. I was lucky if I had even two friends who weren’t hanging out with me out of morbid curiosity or because they thought they’d be able to score drugs at the house. It didn’t help that I looked like I was 12 until I was like, 22.”

Opie huffed out a laugh, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. He was looking at her a little differently now, with some renewed understanding that hadn’t been there before.

It was almost as if they were both imagining the person she’d used to be, skittering down the halls of Charming High, trying to blend into the background as much as she possibly could. That girl didn’t exist anymore. Besides, it had clearly been a mistake to try to pretend like her parents weren’t porn stars and that her step-brother wasn’t prospecting for the local, very lawless motorcycle club. No one at school had bought what she was selling anyway, especially not Jax Teller. And now, she knew that it was better to own who you were and to feel no shame about the things you couldn’t control.

“All I had was school,” she told him. “Being smart was the one thing I could control. I just...it was easier to keep my distance, you know? I didn’t want to give anyone one more reason to talk about me behind my back. I never meant to…”

Words failed her again, but he nodded anyway despite her failings.

“I get all that, Al,” he murmured gently. “I really do. And I’m not sayin’ Jax wasn’t in the wrong either. He got all worked up whenever you were around because he figured you thought you were better than all of us - and you  _ were _ , anyway. But I saw the way he treated you and I didn’t do anything about it either. I guess what I’m tryin’ to say is, I think we all just need to set that shit aside. That was years ago and we’re all different people now - I know that’s probably hard for you to believe, at least where Jax is concerned, but it’s true.”

He paused there to gauge her reaction, found whatever he was looking for, and then pressed on.

“When Donna left, it just about broke me,” Opie’s voice cracked a little, and her heart cracked right along with it. “Then she took the kids. And I...I didn’t think I’d ever come back from it. I didn’t know if I even wanted to. And then I met Lyla and things started to get better. I started to come back to myself a little, you know? She’s made me feel like I deserve a better life and I wanna be able to give that back to her. Keep her safe. Keep her happy. Give her a life that’s not full of blood and bullets.”

Allie smiled softly, tilting her head to the side as she felt her heart break in two. Opie deserved all those things too. He was probably the best person she knew. With the biggest heart and the best of intentions.

“The club is headin’ in the right direction, Allie,” he told her now, his voice filled with firm conviction. “We’re gonna go legit, get out of guns as soon as we’ve got enough cash flow to stay afloat without it. We need help to do that, though. And Rosen - the lawyer we have now - I don’t think he wants anything to do with that. Or at least, he sure as shit doesn’t care. We had a deal on some storage units that fell through today all because that asshole couldn’t be bothered to return Jax’s phone calls.”

Allie frowned at that. While she’d known Rosen was the definition of a lazy attorney, she hadn’t realized he was  _ that  _ bad. She couldn’t blame the club for wanting to drop him like a bad habit.

“What we need, Allie,” Opie pressed on, “is someone like you on our side. Someone who will have our backs and help us protect our money and our businesses. Someone who will help us make some better decisions. Losing Clay...that was a wake-up call. I wanna be around for my kids...for my wife. I don’t wanna die in an orange jumpsuit. I don’t wanna end up on the wrong end of a bullet. Or a knife. I just - we all just want another chance to get this life right. We just wanna be free, ya know?”

She swallowed hard and nodded tightly.

“And I gotta think that if we can turn things around, if things get better,  _ safer _ ...I gotta think that Donna might let me see the kids.”

There it was. The breaking point. She didn’t know if she’d be able to take any more.

“I’m not tellin’ you all this to guilt you into anything, Al. I’m just tryin’ to help you understand where we’re comin’ from here. All you gotta do is name your terms, and Jax will accept them, no questions asked. I promise. And if you need me to run interference between the two of you, I can do that too. You don’t have to like someone to work with them, right? But Al, we need you.  _ I  _ need you. I don’t know if we can do it without you.”

Well, she supposed there was only one thing left to say. She took a deep breath - she didn’t like it and it wouldn’t feel good. But, at this point, she really didn’t have any other choice. And she couldn’t say no to him.

“Tell me more about that deal, Ope.”

* * *

Jax leaned back, lining up his shot just right, then thrust the pool stick in his hand with just enough pressure to send the eight ball flying into the left pocket.

“Aw, shit,” Happy muttered behind him. “That’s game, I guess.”

“Damn right it is,” Jax grinned over his shoulder. He took a long pull from the cigarette in between his lips before blowing out that smoke in victory. Sometimes, you had to take those wins where you could get them, and right about now, that win felt really damn good.

Bobby just shrugged. “Best outta three?”

“Why not?” Jax batted a hand his way. “Rack ‘em up.”

They got a few shots in after Bobby racked up the balls again, and Jax was grateful for the distraction. After they’d parted ways at the storage units earlier that afternoon, he’d yet to hear from his VP. No call. No text. Not a single word. Allie had texted him about her car an hour ago, but other than that...complete radio silence.

Opie had to come back to the clubhouse at some point. He couldn’t stay away forever - even if he had nothing but bad news to bring with him. Jax had already had plenty of bad news for one day. What difference did a little more make in the grand scheme of things anyway? 

Still, he had a smoke in between his lips. Air in his lungs. His brothers at his side. Things could always be shittier.

And it was that moment that his VP chose to stride through the clubhouse’s doors.

Opie wore a cool poker face, giving nothing away, as he made a pit stop at the bar to grab himself a beer. He let Opie have a moment, and then Jax tipped his chin to him, signaling that he needed to get his ass over here. There was only so much he could take. When Opie finally made his way over to the pool table, the suspense was literally killing him. He had to take another long drag from his cigarette just to keep his leg from bouncing in agitation.

“So?” Jax called out to him.

Opie just lifted a shoulder with an easy smile. “We’re good, bro.”

He blew out the breath he’d been holding and swallowed hard. For a second there, Jax had thought that maybe - just maybe - he’d blown the club’s chances. As it turned out, all he’d needed to do was send in reinforcements. Kinda made him wonder why he hadn’t tried that in the first place.

But, there’d been a part of him that had wanted her to accept the club’s offer because  _ he’d _ asked. He couldn’t quite reconcile that part of him either.

“So, what exactly did you say to convince her?”

Opie shrugged a little and took another pull from his beer bottle. “I told her the truth. Told her why we’re goin’ legit. That we need her to do it.”

Jax felt himself coil at that last part. The club  _ did _ need Allie. They probably  _ couldn’t  _ make many of the moves they needed in order to really go legit the way he wanted them to be. There was just something about hearing the words out loud that set him off-kilter.

“I also might’ve mentioned the kids,” Opie threw out lightly and then shrugged a little guiltily. 

Ah, so  _ that  _ was what finally pushed her over the edge. Opie hadn’t lied - it was no secret Donna had blown out of Charming like a bat out of hell, ready to burn the place down to the ground, swearing she’d never, ever let Opie around the kids again. That was almost six years ago now, and Opie had been lucky to see them on the few holidays Donna had begrudgingly allowed.

Still, that was a pretty damn good play on Ope’s part. How was she supposed to say no to that? And even better, he had a feeling that bit of intel would keep her committed to the job, come hell or high water, if only to help her former step-brother finally get to see his kids again on a regular basis.

“Man,” Opie continued and shook his head with a light laugh. “I mean, I always knew she didn’t like you, but Jesus, she  _ really  _ doesn’t like you.”

Jax huffed out a laugh. He rubbed a hand across his mouth, careful to school his expression into something congenial, if not amused. What difference did it make what Allie thought of him? All that mattered was that she’d finally come around, and with her help, the club could continue down this path successfully and with the peace of mind they were going about it the right way.

“Oh, yeah?” he smirked.

“I’m pretty sure she used the words  _ dick  _ and  _ asshole  _ in the same sentence. Well, maybe not the exact same sentence, but you get my drift.”

Jax nodded, another laugh rumbling in his chest. This time, amusement crept in through the cracks - that sounded exactly like something she’d say. And he probably deserved it too, for the most part.

“Just give her a little time,” Opie reassured him and clapped him on the shoulder. “She’ll show. I know she will.”

Jax blew out another deep breath, frowning a little when Opie leaned in to murmur, “I gotta talk to you about somethin’ though.”

He nodded, acutely aware that Bobby and Chibs had shifted closer to where they stood to catch what was going on. 

“What’s up, Ope?”

Opie glanced at Bobby and Chibs for a beat and then lit up a cigarette. He puffed away on it for a few moments before finally lifting his eyes back to the three Reaper cuts who surrounded him. A prickle of awareness crept down Jax’s spine - his senses were on high alert now, ready for whatever Opie was about to say.

“Look, this has gotta be on a need-to-know basis, alright?”

Jax cocked an eyebrow at him, but nodded anyway. Opie waited long enough for Bobby and Chibbs to follow suit before pushing on.

“Allie’s mom is...well, she’s an addict and lots of shit has gone down between her and Jimmy that I won’t get into - but long story short, she comes around every once and awhile when she needs cash and Allie gives it to her.”

Jax’s eyebrows flew to his forehead. That was definitely  _ not _ what he was expecting Opie to say. Allie wasn’t stupid. She was easily the smartest person in the room - always. So to hear that someone like her was mixed up in something like that...there were so many emotions tossed in the scatter, he didn’t think he’d be able to pick any of them up if he tried.

Opie shook his head with just a subtle warning in his expression, almost as if he’d been able to read Jax’s thoughts.

“She would literally smother me in my sleep if she knew I was tellin’ you all this right now. I’m pretty sure she’d renege on everything if she knew. But I’m tellin’ you this because I think she’s gotta problem. When I got to her house today, her mom was there with some guy waitin’ in a car. I did  _ not _ like the look of that guy, you know what I mean?”

Jax nodded slowly, taking another long drag from his cigarette as he listened carefully.

“I told her to call me if her mom shows up with that guy again, but I don’t completely trust her to do that. And, let’s be honest, even if she did call me right when they showed up, none of us would be able to get there right away anyway. I think we gotta get her set up with some security...she won’t like it, but I’ll make sure she’s good with it. Maybe have Juice rig up some cameras or somethin’ like that.”

“You think she’d let a prospect sit outside her house?” Jax threw out.

“No fuckin’ way,” Opie laughed and shook his head. “I’d never hear the end of it and neither would you.”

Jax huffed out a laugh. Yeah, Ope was probably right about that. He couldn’t really see Allie letting either of them take charge like that for just about anything. But Opie was right - from the way it sounded, Allie needed that security, and she needed it sooner rather than later.

So he nodded. “Alright. Let’s get Juice on it.”

Bobby and Chibbs nodded in agreement, and then everyone went back to normal, as if Opie hadn’t just walked in here and dropped all that at their feet. Even as Jax gripped the pool stick in his hand a little more tightly, he couldn’t shake this feeling. It was unsettling - knowing that Allie had willfully put herself in a position like that. He didn’t like it. Didn’t like the thought of her potentially unprotected, alone in her house, vulnerable like that...

But, considering the current state of his own personal life, he wasn’t exactly in a position to judge. Besides, if he was really being honest, he got why she couldn’t tell her mom no. Why she couldn’t stop giving her cash, as surprising as it was. It was the same reason he’d been too terrified to pull the trigger with Wendy.

_ At least until now,  _ he thought with finality.

With nothing else left to do, Jax settled back into their pool game, letting himself slip into the necessary distraction the clubhouse always afforded him. It was easy enough, considering the only thing he had to do right now was wait. And about an hour later, his prepay buzzed with an incoming text. He slipped it from the pocket inside his cut as nonchalantly as possible and flipped it open to find a message from Gemma waiting for him.

_ You’ve got company. _

Jax grinned, snapping his prepay shut and tossing it back inside his cut. He whistled to Opie to get his attention and then gestured with his head toward the clubhouse’s exit. Opie shot him a knowing grin and then fell into step beside him as they pushed through the doors to head out into T-M’s parking lot.

But when he saw the three figures standing out in the parking lot, Jax’s steps stuttered.

“Oh, shit,” he muttered under his breath.

He dared a glance at his VP, who was staring ahead like the skies had just parted to rain down a whole load of shit on them. Then Opie’s expression shifted on a dime, moving from shocked to amused a little too quickly. 

Opie gestured with his head toward the parking lot and grinned. “You think Wendy hired Allie to be her divorce lawyer or something like that and now Gemma’s sittin’ there, plotting how to take both of them out?”

Jax swallowed hard as his eyes drifted back to the parking lot. Wendy and Allie were standing a careful distance apart - Wendy looked more than a little perturbed to be kept waiting with her arms crossed bitterly across her chest. Allie, for her part, stared down at her phone like her life depended on it. Gemma lingered off to the side, an exasperated expression written on her face.

“I wouldn’t say that too loud if I was you,” Jax laughed in spite of himself. “One of them might hear you and get some ideas.”

Still, the sight of all three women standing out in the parking lot, waiting for him, was...unnerving, to say the least. Right about now, he was willing to do just about anything to make sure it never happened again.

“Well,” Opie clapped him on the shoulder with a laugh. “Looks like they’ve got it all worked out anyway.”

As they ventured closer, Gemma waited just long enough for him to see her shake her head, and then she retreated back into the safety of T-M’s office, leaving Wendy and Allie standing there about 20 feet apart.

Jax took a deep breath, and because he needed some sort of safety net here, he pulled his cigarette pack from his cut, lighting one up to let some nicotine course through him before he had to deal with this.

His eyes fell to Wendy, who was watching him defensively even as she took a step closer to him, as if she was putting some sort of claim on him. Jax didn’t exactly like that either, but this wasn’t the time or the place for that.

Then his eyes dropped to where Allie stood, her attention still focused on her phone. Her gaze flicked up to him, almost as if she could feel his eyes on her, and she observed him with a cool expression for a beat before shifting her attention back to her phone, giving Wendy an even wider berth.

They couldn’t have been more different. Wendy, with her long hair streaked with bleach, tight jeans, hollowed out eyes, and world-weary lines crinkling her forehead - she seemed so much older than she actually was. And Allie, who’d clearly decided to slip into work mode, had dressed for the occasion with a pin-straight grey skirt that stopped a few inches below her knees and a cream silk button-up tucked inside it. Her dark, shoulder-length hair was curled into smooth curls around her face. She’d even pulled out the high heels too. She was every bit as calm and put-together as Wendy was messy and seething.

It wasn’t fair to compare them, but it was impossible not to see what was right in front of him.

Still, first things first.

He tipped his chin to Allie in greeting and then his eyes slid back to Wendy. Thankfully, Allie seemed to catch his drift and stepped even further away to give Wendy some more space. Wendy stiffened a little at the exchange, and she took a few more steps to try to close the distance between them.

“Jax,” she started softly, glancing around to make sure they had some privacy - not exactly realistic in the middle of T-M’s parking lot, but at this point, he just wanted to keep her calm. He just wanted to get her out of there. “I was calling and -”

“I know,” he nodded once, his eyes shifting to Allie, who was reaching out to pull Opie into a quick hug.

“Who is that?” Wendy’s voice pulled him out of that momentary fog and his head snapped back to face her.

“That,” Jax tipped his chin in Allie’s direction, “is Ope’s step-sister. Well, I guess she’s not anymore since their parents got divorced awhile ago, but you know what I mean.”

Wendy nodded slowly, but she frowned through the movement, her heavily-lined eyes studying him a little too closely. 

“And,” he added just for good measure. “She’s the club’s new lawyer.”

Maybe not officially yet, but the deal was done, as far as he was concerned.

“Oh,” Wendy offered quietly. “Okay.”

They fell silent for a moment and he realized that they’d just had the longest, not to mention calmest, conversation they’d had in weeks. They could do this - they could be civil. They could find some kind of common ground and figure things out like adults. Just as long as she understood where things landed and she got the hell out of his life.

So, he exhaled and finally said it: “I think we should talk tonight. I’ll come by the house...I’m not sure when yet, but I’ll let you know,” he paused, struck for just a moment by the dejection creeping onto her face. “But we...Wendy, we should talk.”

She rubbed her fist against her mouth - that was a defense mechanism he knew well, and then she nodded. 

“Okay,” Wendy murmured softly. “I guess I’ll see you at home then.”

Jax sent her a gentle smile, trying his best not wince at the word  _ home _ . That was the most he could give her right now. The most he could probably  _ ever  _ give her, and that would just have to be enough. And after he watched Wendy slide into her car and drive out of the parking lot, he shifted his attention behind him to find Opie and Allie approaching a little hesitantly.

Wasting no time, Allie pulled some paperwork from her purse and handed it to him. He slipped it from her fingertips with a smirk. She was trying to be professional here, and yet he just couldn’t help himself.

Still, he skimmed through the papers, nodding to himself when he read the words,  _ Terms of Engagement _ at the top, but then stopped short, his eyes flying back up to her with an amused grin.

“I see you gave yourself a raise.”

Even Opie cocked an eyebrow her way at that.

Allie just shrugged. “I took the number of hours I estimated I’d be putting in every month and factored in my usual hourly rate. It’s not my problem if Rosen accepted less for his retainer.”

He eyed her carefully, an impressed smile slipping across his face, and he rocked back on his heels without breaking their little staring contest.

“What, no family discount?”

Allie’s lips spread apart in a wide grin even as she shook her head. “No.”

He shot Opie a quick glance and found his VP shaking his head, grinning, but still shaking his head. Jax had to give it to her - she was good. Real good. A no-bullshit negotiator who was tough enough to stand her ground and dig her heels in.

She was exactly what the club needed. And regardless of if she thought he was an asshole, a dick, or both, he was impressed as hell.

“A’ight,” he shrugged and shot her cocky smirk as he shoved the paperwork into his cut.

“And this,” Allie told him as she handed him yet another set of papers, “is a copy of the offer I just put in for those storage units on the club’s behalf.”

A slow grin spread across his face as he glanced at the papers in his hand. Yeah, he’d definitely made the right call here.

“I put the offer in for $2,000 over asking, like Ope told me to do,” she looked to Opie then for confirmation, who dipped his head in a nod. “So now, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. The seller still has some time to respond to the first offer, but now that we’ve got one in, it might start a bidding war.”

Jax’s mouth pulled to the side, trying to fight the shit-eating grin from spreading across his face. Well, he supposed there was only one thing left to do.

He reached out his hand, murmuring with a smile, “Welcome to our payroll.”

Allie smiled back tightly, like all this was just annoying and probably an even bigger waste of her time. That was fine. He had no problems with that - in fact, the irritation flickering across her face right now just had him grinning back at her. 

And when she gingerly slipped her hand into his to seal the deal, he squeezed her hand and winked at her just because he could.

This was gonna be fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to make myself slow down a little because these updates were coming so fast! I have a few chapters all set to go, but I'm going to try to stick to updating once a week so I don't burn out, you know?
> 
> So Allie is officially the club's lawyer now - Opie was definitely the one person she wouldn't be able to say no to. Please let me know what you thought of this! Your comments/bookmarks/kudos on this keep me going!


	7. Chapter Seven

It felt like it’d been forever since he’d driven down this street. That was pretty damn sad, considering he technically lived here. And it wasn’t like he’d really been in the house all that much, even when they’d first bought it and moved in. Sometimes, it didn’t feel like he’d ever lived there at all - at least not for any real length of time.

Jax had bought the house right after they got married because that just seemed like the thing a person was supposed to do after getting married. He hadn’t particularly liked the house - or the price - but Wendy had fallen in love with it for some reason, so he’d bought it. He also hadn’t had much of a say in the way she’d decorated the place - not that he cared - but he couldn’t exactly say there was much of him anywhere, other than some clothes, a few cases of beer, a toothbrush, and a bottle of shampoo. Everything else was pretty much at the clubhouse. He’d never really boxed up any of his things there and brought it to the house. Maybe even then, he knew it was just a waste of his time.

And as he pulled into the driveway, Jax sat there for a few moments with a heavy heart, his eyes drifting over the overly-long grass, the cracks in the sidewalk, the shabby shutters, and the sad-looking welcome mat at the front door.

This wasn’t his home.

This was just a house, and it wasn’t even that nice of a house.

He wished there was at least one happy memory here. Something he could wrap his hands around and feel it pulsing with life, with hope. His hands, and his memory, came up empty.

Maybe there had been some good times in this house. Maybe there’d been one good night where he’d come home from the clubhouse, safe and sound, and Wendy had been there with dinner at the ready, clean and sober, and they’d had a good, fulfilling night as the couple Wendy had always wanted them to be.

Maybe his feelings were clouding his memories right now, but his instincts had never really failed him before. And he knew better than to ignore what they were telling him to do.

So, with a heavy sigh, Jax strode up to the entryway of the house. He almost felt like knocking, but then reminded himself that he technically owned this place. He didn’t need to knock.

He used his key instead, and when the aroma of Italian spices wafted through the air, Jax scrubbed his face with both hands wearily. Dinner wasn’t necessary tonight. In fact, he was pretty damn sure neither of them would have much of an appetite pretty soon. He blew out another tired breath when he saw a basket of folded laundry sitting on the couch. Tell-tale vacuum cleaner lines streaked the carpet. Even the throw pillows on the couch looked like they’d been fluffed recently.

She’d been cleaning up. Trying to make the house presentable for him. One last ditch shot in the chest to try to revive the strangled heart of their relationship.

Not like it’d ever been much of a relationship to begin with.

Wendy appeared in the entryway from the kitchen, a tomato sauce covered wooden spoon in hand, and her lips spread apart in a relief. She disappeared inside the kitchen, then materialized again with both hands free as she shot forward to wrap her arms around his neck. Jax let her draw him in, let himself wrap his arms around her waist. Maybe it was better to give her what she needed from him right now. It might make the blow that was to come a little easier to swallow.

Probably not, but a guy could hope.

“I’m so glad you’re home,” Wendy murmured in his ear.

Jax couldn’t bring himself to respond. Instead, he let her pull him into the kitchen, where she had a few steaming pots going on the stovetop. Wendy gestured for him to have a seat at the table, which was already set for two, and when she turned to open the refrigerator, he opted to lean on the counter instead.

And when she whirled back around to hold out a beer to him, her face dropped. Wendy’s dark eyes locked on the way he stood opposite of her, leaning his hip on the counter with his arms crossed uneasily over his chest. She swallowed tightly but still held out the cold beer for him to take. When he just shook his head, Wendy sucked in a shaky breath.

It was inevitable now. All he needed to do was say the words.  _ Finally _ .

“Wendy,” Jax started gently. “We need to get a divorce.”

Just saying the words out loud... a huge weight lifted from his shoulders. He’d been wanting to say that out loud for more than a year, but Wendy shook her head furiously before he’d even had a chance to finish that sentence. Her face twisted as she dropped her weight against the counter across from him in the galley kitchen, gripping the edges of the counter until her knuckles turned white.

“No, Jax -”

“Yes, Wendy,” he nodded firmly. There was no point in letting her even try. It wasn’t going to work, not this time. Every other time he’d almost said it, she’d jumped in with some excuse, some guilt trip she knew would make him choke on the words. It was time to man up and do the right thing for once.

“It’s been over for a long time,” Jax started again, careful to keep his tone even and as non-threatening as possible. “Even before I went inside - things just...I mean, have things  _ ever _ been right between us? The way things are supposed to be between people who’re married?”

He paused for a moment to let that really sink in. Wendy could make all the excuses she wanted, but at the end of the day, they’d gotten married two years ago because...he couldn’t even pinpoint a reason anymore. They’d been off and on for two years before that and, at the time, falling into bed with her just became an easy, thoughtless habit. Needing to get absolutely shit-faced in order to go through with their DIY ceremony at the clubhouse should’ve been the red flag that made him pump the brakes. Wendy was just so... _ fragile _ , barely hanging onto sobriety, and hurting her feelings, breaking her heart, he didn’t want that to be the thing that pushed her over the edge.

Of course, three weeks after the wedding he’d found her with a needle in her arm.

But after four years of this, it needed to end. And it needed to end now.

“I don’t understand, Jax,” she tried, her voice trembling and her eyes watered with unshed tears. “You’ve only been out for two months. I get that there’s an adjustment - we have to figure things out again, but we’ve got  _ time _ , Jax. I’m willing to do whatever you want to make this work. I’ll go to counseling if that’s what you want. I’ll start workin’ more hours at the bar - I’ll contribute more...I know you’re tired of always havin’ to foot the bills and I wanna change that, I really do -”

Jax couldn’t let her go on like that. Couldn’t let her talk herself into a corner. He’d figured she’d take this route. Before, when he was the bad actor by staying away from the house and letting croweaters drag him to his dorm room, Wendy hadn’t had any problem pointing out all his flaws or all the ways he’d failed her as a husband. Now, of course, when he was ready to walk away, she was one who needed to change, she was the one who would do better. None of that mattered anyway.

So, he just shook his head and sent her a sad smile. “Wendy, there’s nothing either of us can do. You know that...I know this isn’t what you wanna hear, but it’s the truth. For the first time in a really long fucking time, I’m tellin’ you the truth, okay?”

Wendy shook her head furiously, refusing to accept what was right in front of them, and she shoved away from the counter, holding her arms out to try to touch him. He gently pushed her hands away, keeping his fingertips wrapped around her wrists to keep her from doing that again. It was only making it worse.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured softly. “I really am. I never wanted it to be this way...I just…” he trailed off, unsure if maybe holding back a little was the better play. “We don’t love each other, Wendy. I’m not sure that we ever did.”

Her face twisted again with grief and her hands groped for him again, desperate for some kind of contact between them, but he stood his ground and kept her hands at her sides.

“How can you say that, Jax?” Wendy whispered hoarsely. “ _ I _ love you. I really do...is there someone else? Is that it? Is it that girl I saw today -”

“There’s been a hundred someone elses, Wendy,” he admitted, guilt stabbing him right through the heart. “You know that.”

He swallowed hard and inhaled shakily as the true state of all this washed over him. He’d never wanted to be the kind of guy who cheated on his wife left and right. He’d always thought that, when he did settle down and get married, it would be for life and the woman at his side would always be enough. She’d be his ride or die - the kind of woman he’d be willing to throw himself in front of a fury of bullets for. The kind of woman he’d be willing to lose himself in and never look back. The kind of woman who would make him want to be a better man.

He’d seen that in his parents, seen the way JT looked at Gemma like she hung the stars and the moon. He’d seen the exact same thing in Clay and Gemma too, for all it was worth. He wasn’t proud of his part in this. He didn’t like that he’d resorted to sleeping with whoever was around that night at the clubhouse so he didn’t have to go home and face his wife. But that was his fault for ever marrying the wrong woman in the first place. His mistakes to reconcile. His guilt to own.

He couldn’t continue to own Wendy’s mistakes too.

“Jax,” Wendy called out to him. “I love you. I always have and we can -”

“No, we can’t,” he tried again, this time his tone was firmer, more direct. “We won’t. I can count on one hand the number of nights I’ve spent in this house since I got out. I didn’t come here because I didn’t wanna  _ be _ here. And we can spend the next few months ignoring that and pretending things will get better, when we know they won’t, or we can put ourselves out of our misery now and figure out how to move on with our lives.”

Tears were streaming down Wendy’s face now, and it felt like a sucker punch to the gut. He didn’t want to hurt her. He didn’t want to make her cry. He just didn’t know any other way to get through to her.

“You said you love me,” Jax murmured hoarsely. “But I think you love the  _ idea  _ of me more than anything else. When have I actually been what you needed? When have I actually been a good husband to you? I mean, what is it about me that you  _ actually _ love? I fuck around on you all the time because I don’t wanna be here with you, Wendy. I’ve treated you like shit. I’ve purposefully ignored you and hurt you. I’ve been a shitty fucking husband and even if we stayed together, that’s not gonna change. You should be with someone who will take care of you and love you the way you deserve. I’m not that guy, Wendy.”

She sucked in a harsh breath and took a tiny step back. Her eyes hit the floor between them, and she swallowed hard before wrenching her wrists out of his grip so she could rub her eyes. Maybe she was really,  _ finally  _ starting to hear him. And in that moment, he knew what he needed to do. It was the right thing for her. Probably even the right thing for him. He  _ wanted  _ to do right by her and maybe this was the only way he could do it.

“Wendy,” he started slowly. “I think you should take the house.”

Her eyes shot up to him, widening with surprise and disbelief. “What?”

“Yeah,” he nodded sadly. “This is more your home than it is mine anyway.”

And at this point, he didn’t have it in him to care anymore.

“But,” Wendy frowned. “Where will you live?”

He just lifted a shoulder nonchalantly. “I’ve got my dorm in the clubhouse. I don’t mind it.”

The more he considered it, the more it made sense. Even with the house, even after they’d gotten married, he’d still opted to spend most of his nights at the clubhouse. And with his responsibilities within the club drastically increased since they’d gotten out of Stockton, he needed to be at the clubhouse more now than ever before. Might as well just live there until it made sense to get his own place again. He had a feeling that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Besides, what the hell did he need a three-bedroom house for anyway?

His mother was going to skin him alive for this, but he could handle Gemma, especially if this eased the blow and helped Wendy on her way.

“But, Jax, I don’t -”

“I’m not gonna kick you outta here, Wendy. This is your home. You’re safe here and you’re set up pretty well here too. We’ll figure out the mortgage shit later, but this house has always been yours. You should keep it.”

Wendy started back at him, momentarily stunned into silence. This was the only thing he could give her now, and it felt right. The more he thought about it, the more it just seemed like the right thing to do. Wendy deserved to get something out of this, especially after the way he’d treated her. And he knew, deep down, that if he did keep the house, nothing he’d ever do would make it feel like his or make it feel like home. 

He needed this fresh start as much as she did.

“I want you to be safe,” he told her gently, and now that things had turned, he pulled her into his arms one last time. “I want you to be healthy. I want you to be happy, okay?”

Her tears soaked through his white Samcro T-shirt, and he held her as she cried. This was a different kind of crying than before - every other time, her tears had been filled more with rage, bitterness, and disappointment than anything else. These tears held disappointment too, but grief was there as well. Some resignation. Some acceptance.

Things were going to get better now for both of them. They could both move on and start fresh. They were both going to be okay.

He hoped.

* * *

_ Two Days Later _

Allie hit the end button on her phone, tossed it onto her perpetually cluttered desk, and blew out a deep sigh. Well, that was that. The final nail on the coffin of that deal.

While she’d predicted a bidding war for those storage units, she’d hoped her new clients would come out the victor. The club could only afford to bid a certain dollar amount over asking - which was fair - and she was happy to see that they weren’t willing to just throw their money around either. It was one thing to aggressively go after what you wanted, but in her mind, there was a right way and a wrong way to go about doing that. So far, the club seemed to be on board with going about it the right way.

Part of her wondered how long that was going to last.

Still, she had to believe Opie was right - that the club was serious about going legitimate and steering clear of anything and everything that would end in blood and bullets. And so far, Jax had been relatively cooperative, at least in terms of their texts about this deal. Every time she had an update, she’d text him, he’d respond almost instantly, and then she’d follow through on raising the bid a little bit higher.

They’d had a threshold though, and once they hit it, Allie had known they’d lose. The other potential buyers were more motivated and obviously had more cash flow at the ready. Samcro was still trying to get their feet out from under them where that was concerned. It was better to take it slow, rather than run in with guns blazing - pun sort of intended - without having the income to sustain the businesses they wanted to acquire.

And now that it was dead in the water, Allie knew she couldn’t just send that off in a text message like it was nothing. This wasn’t even really the type of thing she felt comfortable telling him over the phone. She knew how much this deal mattered to the club, to Jax, and even if it’d gone above what they could spend...they’d wanted it bad and they’d just lost it for good. The right thing to do would be to drive the bad news over herself.

_ I’ve got an update about the deal _ , she texted him.  _ We should talk about it in person though. I can be at the clubhouse in an hour. _

Her phone pinged a few moments later with his reply:  _ Alright. _

Maybe he could sense, even through text message, that what she had to tell him wasn’t good. And then, two seconds later, he texted again.

_ Got a legal question for you. It’s personal, not club business tho.  _

Allie frowned at those words and responded with a deep exhale,  _ Okay. _

_ You know anything about filing for divorce in Cali? _

Her eyes widened and she reared back a little in shock, nearly dropping her phone on her desk. Seriously? It had been shocking enough to see his wife standing in T-M’s parking lot a few days ago the way it was. While she’d heard Jax had gotten married a few years ago, she hadn’t realized he was  _ still  _ married. She’d never seen him wearing a wedding ring either. And, if she was being completely honest with herself - which she  _ wasn’t _ \- she felt like a complete fool.

The way he’d treated her at the merger party...the flicker of disappointment in his eyes when she’d told him she was leaving...the way he’d touched her...he had been married when he did all those things. Obviously, things had probably been on the outs between them for a while if he was filing for divorce three days after the merger party, but that didn’t make her feel like any less of an idiot for falling right into his trap. He probably hadn’t even been trying that hard.

So what was she supposed to say?  _ I didn’t know you were still married and I feel like an idiot now, so sorry, I’m not helping you get a divorce. _

Instead, she replied:  _ I’ve never had to file that kind of paperwork before, but I have a friend from law school that can help me. When do you need it? _

His reply came in almost immediately:  _ Asap. _

And then, like it was an afterthought, he texted,  _ I’m giving Wendy the house. Make sure that’s all in the paperwork. I’ll sign whatever I need to sign. _

And then,  _ Bill this against your retainer. No big deal. Just get it done. _

This wasn’t exactly club business, but seeing as he was the club president, Allie supposed it was his prerogative to decide what constituted club business and what didn’t. She hadn’t even begun to process the other piece of all this, that he was giving his soon-to-be ex-wife the house. That seemed like the dumbest idea in the history of dumb ideas. But, it was his house to give away, even if that was one of the most financially irresponsible things she’d ever heard.

And then finally,  _ Thanks. _

Huh. That last text was interesting. She couldn’t remember every hearing Jax Teller say thank you for just about anything.

_ He must really need those divorce papers,  _ Allie thought wryly.

But, he was her client after all, and so she did as she was told. She opened up a new email and racked her brain for who she knew that practiced family law. So maybe she’d fibbed a little by telling Jax she had a “friend” from law school who could help her. She’d needed to tell him  _ something _ and “I don’t know how” wasn’t exactly the right response.

It was difficult enough maintaining a solid friendship with her roommate, let alone anyone she’d known in law school, with her current work schedule. Now that she’d taken on another client, any free time she had was going to burn up fast. While she did have friends in law school who went the divorce law/family law route, she hadn’t seen them since graduation. But there was at least one who could probably help, if she asked really nicely.

Just as she hit send on that email, a knock came on her door.

“Yeah?”

The door opened and Ima slid through, followed by Georgie Caruso, the proud, ever so smug owner and operator of Lacuna Films.

Allie eyed Caruso as he gave her a lazy wave before dropping down into one of the chairs across from her desk. Ima silently followed his lead, but her smug expression told Allie everything she needed to know.

Every so often, Caruso would swoop in and try to pilfer their employee roster, from the actors to the writers and even some of the production crew, particularly the camera crew. Jimmy and Allie had never really seen Caruso as much of a threat - his much smaller, low-budget productions and even lower-standards at Lacuna Films were barely a blip on anyone’s radar in the industry. 

Georgie had had better luck stealing away Cara Cara’s actors, which given what Allie knew now, wasn’t really that much of a surprise. Luann probably hadn’t had the first clue about what to do or how to stop him either.

For their part, Jimmy and Allie had drawn a line in the sand where it came to Lacuna Films and its owner. They were the better production studio and everyone knew it. If any of their employees really thought they were better off at Lacuna, then they were welcome to leave. More often than not, they came running back to Sweet Productions as soon as their contracts were up at Lacuna. The rest of their employees knew better.

With the merger between Cara Cara and Sweet Productions official, it wasn’t a shock that Caruso felt like he needed to show up here and piss on some of their new territory.

So now, seeing Caruso sitting in her office with Ima Tite...not really a surprise. Or that big of a deal.

“Please,” Allie told him with a smirk, gesturing to the chair he was already sitting in. “Have a seat. Make yourself comfortable.”

Caruso just cocked an eyebrow at her. “Don’t mind if I do.”

They sat there for a few moments as Allie waited patiently for one of them to make the first move. They’d come into her office, interrupting her work, so she wasn’t about to cater to their needs and be polite.

Finally, Caruso shifted in his seat to dig into his back pocket, pulled a piece of paper out that looked awfully similar to a check, and tossed it onto her desk.

What the hell was it with men throwing money at her in this office? Did they feel the need to defend their masculinity somehow when they were sitting in a woman’s office? Did it make their teeny tiny egos feel a little bit bigger? These pricks just needed to get over themselves.

So, Allie lifted her eyebrows, refusing to touch the check until Caruso told her exactly what it was for. She knew already, of course, but she wanted to make him say the words out loud first.

“That’s for her signing bonus,” Caruso threw out, pointing at the check. “That gets her out of her contract with you so she can come over to me.”

Allie scooped up the check, scanned it to make sure it was for the right amount, and then just shrugged. When she didn’t say anything, Ima’s eyes flashed and she leaned forward in her chair.

“Didn’t you hear what he said, bitch? I’m leaving. I’m outta this stupid, fuckin’ place,” Ima sneered.

Allie bit back a laugh and just grinned in amusement, shrugging her shoulders one more time. “Okay.”

Ima reared back like Allie was speaking a foreign language, her face twisting in shocked confusion. “What do you mean,  _ okay _ ?”

This time, Allie didn’t hold back her laugh. “You heard me. You wanna go try your luck with this idiot,” she gestured flippantly to Caruso as she spoke, “go right ahead.”

Ima sputtered a little, like she couldn’t quite believe what was happening right now. She’d obviously thought Allie would fight to keep her on their payroll, that she’d at least act offended or upset that Ima wanted to leave. It was just inconceivable to her that Allie might feel the opposite or that the two studios wouldn’t get into some sort of fight over her. Caruso, for his part, stiffened in his chair and narrowed his eyes at her. Maybe it was too soon in this conversation to throw out  _ idiot _ , but the asshole  _ was _ an idiot. 

Allie called it like she saw it.

“So…” Ima started hesitantly, her heavily-lined eyes darting from Allie, to Caruso, and back to Allie again. “You’re just gonna let me go?”

“Yep,” Allie shrugged again with a wide grin. “As far as I’m concerned, you’ve met the terms of your contract with us and are free to leave. That is, of course, once this check clears.”

Caruso’s eyes darkened dangerously, and he curled his hands around the edge of the chair until his knuckles turned white. Ah, so she was getting to him. Perfect.

“Well,” Allie smiled smugly. “I think we’re just about done here. The door is behind you. Don’t let it hit you on your way out.”

Ima and Caruso exchanged a look, and when he just lifted a shoulder, they both rose to their feet at the same time. They’d clearly expected, if not hoped for, a fight, and finally realized they weren’t going to get one.

“Ya know,” Caruso wagged a finger at her, his lips spreading in a sleazy grin. “You ever change your mind about workin’ for me, just gimme a call. I’d be happy to add you to my roster - in fact, I’m casting for a legal-inspired film right now actually. I’m kinda torn between two titles though,  _ The Hung Jurist _ , or,” he swiped a hand across the air, “ _ Innocent Until Proven Filthy _ . Whatdya think?”

Allie tilted her head to the side in amusement, carefully sidestepping around Ima and Caruso as she moved to open the door for them and send them on their way.

“We’ve been over this already,” she reminded him easily. “If I ever do decide to be in a film, it would never be with  _ your _ studio. You know, considering all four OSHA violations you’re still cleaning up from last year. I’d like my first experience on film to be in a clean,  _ safe  _ environment,” her gaze flicked pointedly to Ima as she spoke, “and that being said, I think I’d probably prefer to branch out. Casting an attorney in a legal-themed film is a little too...on the nose, don’t you think? I think I’d do better as some kind of pint-sized dominatrix whose specialty is handing out sexual punishments or something cool like that, right?”

Caruso’s eyes glinted, but she wasn’t quite sure which part of that had gleaned that reaction from him. Every time they interacted, he always snuck in some snide comment about her  _ working  _ for him. This was nothing new and it wasn’t going to change. All she could control in this situation was her own reaction, and she got better at it every time.

“Right,” he answered slowly, his eyes dragging suggestively up and down the length of her body. “Whips and chains...sure, I think that’d work out just fine. And just so you know,” he jerked a thumb at Ima, “this one is just the first. There will be more on their way over to me after this. I don’t give a fuck if you and your dad think you’re hot shit now that you’ve got Cara Cara and Samcro with you behind the scenes. That’s not gonna stop me from dismantling this piece of shit studio piece by piece.”

Allie just smiled and held the door out a little bit wider. “Good luck with that.”

Then she gave Ima a good-natured wave. “See ya. And, in the words of a very famous American musical - you’ll be back.”

When Ima’s eyebrows dropped into a tight frown, Allie batted a hand her way. “It’s from  _ Hamilton _ . Sorry, I shouldn’t have expected you to get that. Anyway,” she grinned. “See ya.”

Ima stood frozen in the door’s threshold, momentarily stunned at the events that had just transpired. Allie could almost see the wheels in her head spinning, flitting from disbelief to rage and frustration all in the span of a few seconds. Ima’s poor brain had to be working overtime just to keep up.

Both Ima and Caruso shot her exasperated expressions before trudging down the long hallway. They’d gotten what they wanted, but at the same time, their heads hung a little in defeat. That felt damn good to see. 

But now, Allie realized with a sigh, she had to head over to the clubhouse, and before she could even  _ think _ about hitting the road, she had to stop in at her dad’s office first to tell him they’d just lost an actor. Ima wasn’t any kind of real loss, but he needed to know all the same.

One of these days, she sighed to herself, she’d actually have time to deal with the mountain of paperwork sitting on her desk. Today was not that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - I'm trying to stick to updating once a week just to let things breathe a little, but I'm happy to say that I'm almost done with chapter 11 ;) This chapter is actually the first part of what I'd originally written and was supposed to include Allie's visit to the clubhouse, but I cut it in half because it was just so, so long. In general, I'd planned on this story being about 25-28 chapters tops, but my outline just keeps expanding with more details and layers, and now it's looking like it's going to be about 40 chapters (I even have a few ideas started for a sequel ;)
> 
> Anyway, thank you so much for all your feedback! I'm glad to see you guys are loving Allie as much as I do, and I've been having so much fun with these characters, these chapters are just sort of writing themselves, you know? This chapter didn't include as much interaction between Jax and Allie as we probably would've liked, but some pretty important moves happened - and don't worry, they'll be facing off again in the next chapter. Please let me know what you think!


	8. Chapter Eight

Allie pulled into T-M’s parking lot and turned off her car’s engine, giving herself a moment to steel herself for this. Every time she pulled into this parking lot, her heart rate ticked up a notch, her palms got a little bit sweaty, and she always felt like she had to do a deodorant check before leaving her car just to make sure her sweat wasn’t literally visible.

Part of her wondered if this was ever going to change. Maybe, with time, it would get easier, but for now, this parking lot, and the clubhouse that loomed beyond it, still stirred up more anxiety in her than she was willing to admit.

A loud knock rapped on her driver’s side door, and she looked up to find Gemma bent down a little, waving to her with a good-natured grin.

“Hey there,” Gemma greeted her as Allie slid out of her car and set her feet onto the pavement. “Didn’t know you were visitin’ us again so soon.”

“Hi Gemma,” Allie offered her a smile in return. “I’ve got a few business things to go over with Jax.”

“Ah,” Gemma nodded knowingly before hitching a hand to her hip. “He know you’re here already, then?”

“I texted him before I left my office, so he’s expecting me.”

Gemma nodded again, an unfathomable expression on her face, and then her lips spread apart a little too much like the Grinch. “You know, I’m really glad I ran into you here. I’m plannin’ a family dinner tonight, and I think it would be really great if you came.”

Allie’s mouth snapped open to reply, but Gemma cut her off.

“I think you should come. You know, get to know everyone a little better - you work for the club now and you were family even before that. I’d say you should bring your dad too, but I think we all know how that would turn out if him and Piney got in the same room together. But, that being said...you should come, Allie.”

Oh shit. How was she supposed to say no? There was no excuse in the world that Gemma would actually accept. But seriously, she’d only been officially employed by the club for two days, and they were already pulling her in even deeper. Yesterday, after a long phone call with Opie, the club’s intel officer had shown up and installed security cameras around her house. He’d even linked the cameras to an app on her phone so she could literally see who was at her front door without having to go near it. She got that. She really did. And, after some serious resistance on her part, she could understand why Opie thought those precautions were necessary, in light of what had happened the last time he paid her a visit.

But now...this was starting to become too much too soon. Still, how in God’s name could she say no? The woman would never let her live it down, and if she did say no, Allie wasn’t sure that she wouldn’t wither under Gemma’s hard glare anyway. And from a certain point of view, Gemma kind of had a point. Allie was working for the club now - maybe that meant there’d be certain obligations that went with it she hadn’t considered. Still...how was she supposed to tell Gemma no?

So, Allie swallowed hard and shot Gemma a weak smile. “Anything I can bring?”

Gemma grinned brightly and batted out a hand. “Nah. I’ve got everything covered already. We’re havin’ an old fashioned barbecue and I got all the fixin’s and everything all ready to go. All you need to bring is yourself, okay?”

She must’ve seen something in Allie’s smile that gave her pause because she leaned in to murmur, “Jax and his wife are officially on the outs now, in case you were wondering if you’d see her there. I know things were a little awkward the last time you were here, but you don’t have to worry about that tonight, if that’s the thing holdin’ you back.”

“Yeah,” Allie offered slowly, unsure of how much she should say about that particular topic. “Jax might’ve mentioned something about that earlier today.”

Gemma nodded seriously and hitched both hands on her hips. “So you gonna help him with the divorce papers, then?”

Okay, so maybe Gemma knew more than she thought.

“Yep,” Allie smiled tightly. “That’s the plan.”

“Good,” Gemma laughed mirthlessly and shook her head. “He’s gonna need all the help he can get, ya know?”

Allie huffed out a laugh. “Yeah. I know.”

She tipped her chin to Allie with a small, albeit sad, smile. “I’m glad the club has you on their side now.”

Then she turned her head to the clubhouse doors, and Allie followed her lead to find Jax sauntering through the parking lot right in their direction. He had a cigarette between his lips, blue and black flannel underneath his Reaper cut, and his blonde hair slicked back in a way that was just as lazy as it was sexy. When their eyes locked, Jax’s lips twisted into an arrogant smirk. Jesus, that smirk needed a public safety warning. And it didn’t help that it was annoying as hell. 

Allie turned to Gemma with a shrug. “Well, duty calls.”

“Alright, sweetheart,” Gemma waved her on before pointing at her. “I’ll see you tonight though, right? My house. Seven o’clock. If you need directions, I’m sure one of the boys can help you out.”

“Help her out with what, Ma?” Jax called out as he closed the short distance between. He flicked some ash from his cigarette, then brought it to his lips again while he waited for her to explain.

Gemma’s eyes darted between the two of them. If she noticed Allie fidgeting uncomfortably next to her, she didn’t show it.

“Oh, I was just giving Allie some of the details about family dinner tonight.”

Jax’s eyebrows lifted into his forehead. “Is that so?”

“Make sure she’s got the directions to my house,” Gemma put a hand on Jax’s cheek as she passed by to head back into T-M’s office, then she called over her shoulder, “See ya later tonight, Allie.”

Now Jax and Allie were just standing out in the parking lot by themselves. She watched him for a beat, feeling a little off-balance by the way Gemma had just swooped in and taken over like that. Not that it was a surprise. Still a bit of a shock, but not a surprise. And now, as she observed Jax, there was something in his blue eyes that made her frown. He always looked at her a little bit like he wanted to eat her alive, as he’d so succinctly put it, but today, there was a hint of actual danger there too. Something lethal. Something just menacing enough to make the hairs on the back of her arms stand up.

Maybe he’d figured out a while ago what she was coming here to tell him, but his demeanor was more than a little extreme, a little too antagonistic in light of how the storage unit deal went down. And she hadn’t even confirmed it yet. There was also the fact that he’d just asked her to draft divorce papers for him today too. That alone would be enough to put anyone in a bad mood.

As if he could smell her uneasiness, he flashed her a grin and then gestured with his head for her to follow him to the clubhouse. Allie fell into step beside him, and he seemed to slow his gait, as if taking into account that his legs were much longer than hers, despite the fact that she was wearing four-inch heels. 

Finally, she just couldn’t handle the silence between them and had to break the ice.

“I reached out to my friend from law school,” Allie told him as they approached the clubhouse’s double doors. “It sounds like we’ll be able to get everything ready to file tomorrow afternoon.”

He reached around her, the back of his arm brushing her forearm, and he swooped in to open one of the doors for her. 

“Alright,” Jax replied impassively as he followed her deeper into the clubhouse. 

His closeness was unnerving. Why did he have to literally be  _ right _ on her heels? He just had no concept of personal space. Always in her bubble. Always trying to ruffle her feathers and get under her skin.

And when she slowed down, unsure of where in the clubhouse she was supposed to go or where he really wanted to have this conversation, Jax slammed right into her back. His hands ghosted around her hips as he steadied himself, and he chuckled over her shoulder.

Alright. So he was  _ still  _ doing that.  _ Still  _ looking for an excuse to touch her and push for a reaction. _ Still  _ poking and prodding.

She might’ve hated it a little less if his touch didn’t leave a scorching trail of heat in its wake, but here they were.

It was then that she realized his fingertips were  _ still  _ lingering on her hips and he used them to steer her to the left toward an empty side table. Allie sped up her steps just enough to force his fingertips to slip away and then she dropped into one of the empty chairs at the table. Jax folded himself into the chair across from her just as a prospect set two beers down in front of them. She barely had a chance to react before he took one glance at the beer bottles and whistled to get the prospect’s attention before pointing at the beer sitting in front of Allie.

“Grab a Coke for the lady,” Jax instructed the prospect. He was smiling, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. And while his tone was mellow, there was an undercurrent of bitterness in his voice she didn’t understand.

He’d never seemed upset when she’d refused a drink here before. Why start now? But that wasn’t it - she could see that now. The way his eyes narrowed, following her movements with hard animosity...this was different. This was new.

“Sorry,” he was telling her now. “We don’t have Diet Coke here, but I suppose I can have one of the prospects pick some up for you if you want.”

Allie watched him carefully, unsure of how to tread, and confused about what he was really after here. Then she shook her head. “I’m fine. I don’t need anything to drink.”

Jax just lifted a shoulder and gestured for the prospect to take away the beer in front of her. Then he reached into the pocket inside his cut, pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and took a deep pull, exhaling a long stream of smoke. His eyes lingered on the cracks in the table top before drifting over his shoulder to the game of pool playing out about 20 feet away from them. Anywhere but on her.

“Jax?”

His eyes snapped back to her at the sound of her voice, and he lifted his eyebrows in response, almost as if a verbal response would be too much effort.

“Everything okay?”

Choosing to ignore that, he tapped some ash into the tray next to him and wrapped his lips around the cigarette again. Jax leaned an elbow on the table, finally settling his full gaze on her for the first time since they sat down.

“So what did you need to talk about?”

Allie chewed on her bottom lip absentmindedly, temporarily distracted by the flat tone of his voice. If he was already in a pissy mood, this was only going to make it worse. Might as well just get this over with so she could leave...and have to see him again at Gemma’s just a few hours later.

“Well,” she started a little unsteadily, but quickly found her bearings as she slipped into business mode. “I heard back from the realtor today. The other prospective buyers put in another counteroffer - it went beyond the number we’d talked about, and the seller accepted their offer. So…” Allie trailed off, a little disarmed by his impassive expression, “I guess what I’m trying to say is that the deal’s done. We did the best we could, and I know how much you were hoping we could turn this one around, but...we’ll get the next one, okay?”

She hadn’t planned on treating this situation so placatingly, but she just didn’t know what else to do. Didn’t know how to reconcile the hard glint in his blue eyes.

“A’ight,” Jax threw out lightly, but his eyes didn’t match his tone. “Bobby mentioned there were a few retail buildings for sale on the other side of town. Might be worth takin’ a look at now.”

“Sure,” she nodded quickly. “Have him send me the info and I’ll start looking into it.”

He must’ve sensed she really didn’t have much more to say, so he smashed his spent cherry in the ashtray and folded his hands on top of the table, leveling her with a measured expression. “Like you said, we did the best we could. I didn’t really expect this one to go any other way, given the way it started. Worth a shot though.”

“Right.”

Jax nodded slowly, watching her with cool appraisal. His lips twisted into an arrogant smirk as he leaned back in his chair, tipping his chin to her. “You got anything else to tell me?”

She frowned. “Excuse me?”

He nodded again, this time more to himself than anything, and his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “I got a call from your dad about a half hour ago.”

She could already feel her blood beginning to boil - if he wanted her to feel like a five-year-old getting called into the principal’s office for stealing someone else’s crayons, she wasn’t about to play that game.

So, Allie folded her arms across her chest, shooting that hard glare right back at him. “I see.”

His lips twisted again. Any amusement that had been there before had been replaced with animosity and frustration. 

“Interesting turn of events today, huh?” Jax grinned. “Seems like you and Georgie Caruso had a little bit of a showdown. Any reason why you didn’t feel the need to tell me ‘bout that?”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it a  _ showdown _ ,” Allie just shrugged, trying to downplay this as much as she could. 

“Still,” he lifted a shoulder, but his eyes were cold, calculating, waiting for her to make a wrong move. “I thought I’d made myself clear last week that if you kept something from me again, we were gonna have some problems. So,” Jax leaned back in his chair with ice blue eyes. “We gotta problem here?”

Allie huffed out a laugh and shook her head. “I don’t know, Jax. You tell me.”

His eyebrows quirked into his forehead like he was surprised she hadn’t withered and bent to his every whim. Heaven forbid she should defy him and undermine his authority.

So, she pressed on: “There’s no point in making a bigger deal out of this than it -”

“ _I_ __’_ ll  _ be the one who makes that call, darlin’. Not you.”

Ah. There it was. His poor, fragile little male ego was bruised because he thought she’d  _ once again  _ failed to keep him up to speed on the happenings around the club’s precious investment. Because she’d  _ once again  _ kept him out of the loop in a situation that was completely and totally handled. By  _ her _ . Not him.

And now she was just pissed off.

“Okay, Jax,” she huffed out a laugh. “First of all, Georgie Caruso is a third-rate producer who doesn’t know anymore about business and film-making than Luann knew about safety protocols. He’s not a threat to us. He never has been, and he never will be. There’s nothing more to say.”

“So him showin’ up today - that was completely normal? No big deal? The fact that he even thinks he can come in and steal away the actors is somethin’ that needs to be dealt with. The club will handle that.”

“Jesus, Jax, it was  _ just _ Ima. As far as I’m concerned, I say good fucking riddance. She’s a popular actor, but so are the other actors we have on our roster. She’s replaceable. Technically, they all are. So, I don’t really see the need to escalate this any further.”

That didn’t seem to mollify the animosity brewing in his eyes. In fact, it only intensified.

“Again,” Jax lifted a shoulder. “Not your decision to make.”

She sucked in a deep breath - this wasn’t the time or the place to get into this. She hadn’t come here to fight with him. And she definitely hadn’t come here to be reprimanded by him either. She hadn’t done anything wrong, and it wasn’t her fault he couldn’t just let her do her damn job.

“My dad has come to me for advice about the business for years. He’s listened to that advice for years, too. That’s not going to change just because we’re partnered with the club now, so you’re just going to have to get over it.”

His eyebrows shot to his forehead, and his eyes narrowed dangerously, but she was on a roll now.

“Georgie Caruso has one lane - he shows up every once and awhile, tries to act tough, manages to take one or two of our actors, and thinks he’s on his way to taking us down. Nine times out of ten, those actors always come back to us with their tails between their legs because Caruso is as shitty a businessman as he is a boss.”

None of that seemed to matter, though, because Jax just shrugged. “Jimmy and I decided that we need to up the security at the studio - keep a club member on rotation there during production hours to make sure Caruso knows where we stand if he decides to come back.”

There was something about the way he said  _ Jimmy and I _ , like he was completely setting aside the fact that she’d literally just told him she was part of this business too, that  _ she  _ had an opinion that mattered too, that made her fingertips itch to smack that arrogant smirk right off his face.

“He’s not a threat, Jax,” Allie shook her head furiously. “But he will be if you back him into a corner. He hasn’t really done anything except take a problem employee off our hands. We should be thanking him for helping us get rid of her. But if you put on a show - “

“Not your call, darlin’.”

Heat flushed her cheeks and it was all she could to stop herself from picking up this table and shaking it - to do  _ anything  _ to make him fucking listen to her.

“If you provoke him, Jax, he’ll bite. If you leave it alone, he’ll go away. That’s what he does. Maybe he’ll show up again in a few months, or whatever, but it’s nothing we can’t handle.”

Jax’s eyes narrowed again, and he leaned forward with menace creeping across his handsome face. “This is club business too now. And while I appreciate your input, it’s not necessary here.”

“You mean it’s not  _ tolerated  _ here?” Allie tossed out. This time, she let her own animosity creep through her tone. 

He pointed a ringed finger at her. “That’s not what I said and you know it. And you  _ still _ haven’t explained to me why I had to hear this from your dad, and not my fucking lawyer.”

There was something new in his voice that hadn’t been there before. It was more than frustration, more than animosity. And a few of the missing pieces slid into place, even though she still couldn’t quite reconcile them. He’d wanted... _her_ to be the one to tell him. He’d wanted _her_ to be the one to come running to the club, to _him_ , for help.

That was going to happen over her dead body.

“Seems to me like you got the information you needed from my dad,” she leveled an even glare at him and crossed her arms over her chest defensively. “He obviously called you right after I left his office. Nobody kept you out of the loop, like last time. You were brought up to speed almost immediately.  _ Someone  _ from the studio told you what happened, and I don’t see why it’s  _ my _ responsibility to make sure you know every little thing that goes on in the studio.That’s not my job, and if anything, it would create a pretty big conflict of interest if I did since I’m technically representing both the club  _ and _ the studio, separately. So, what exactly is it that you want from me?”

Jax’s lips parted to respond, but the words seemed to die on his lips. That’s right. He didn’t really have a response, did he? There really wasn’t anything he could say - he was being an asshole. A complete and utter prick for no good reason. She was so over assholes who thought they could just say whatever the hell they wanted to her without any consequences.

“Caruso is just another sleazeball that’s a dime a dozen in this industry,” Allie was on a roll now and there was no stopping it. “He knows he has no pull and a reputation for being an asshole, and because of that, he will  _ not _ be a serious problem unless you make him one. I don’t know what else to tell you. I mean, every time I see that idiot, he runs his mouth about putting me in one of his films and it’s -”

Jax’s eyes darkened into shards of ice and his entire body stilled, coiled and ready to strike. “He  _ what _ ?”

“You know what?” Allie just shook her head as she started to rise from her chair. “I’m done with this conversation. We’re not getting anywhere -”

A tattooed forearm shot out to clamp down on her wrist. That vise grip yanked her back down to the table, and she clamored into the chair again with a heavy thud. When she tried to jerk her wrist back, Jax just tightened his grip on her with his nostrils flaring, forcing her to stay put. The violence in his eyes sent a wave of panic down her spine and she furiously tried to yank her wrist away, only for him to pull back harder.

“Jax,” she murmured through her panic. “Stop it. You’re hurting me.”

That broke the spell immediately, and Jax dropped her wrist, pushing back against the table with his other hand, a stunned expression flickering across his face. Then he ran a hand shakily through his slicked-back hair and swallowed tightly. Jax sucked in a haggard breath, shaking his head before dropping his forehead against his hand.

When he finally dragged his gaze back to her, his blue eyes softened with apology.

“Allie,” he called out to her. “I didn’t…”   


He trailed off, glancing around the clubhouse to find that several of the club members, Bobby and Tig included, were watching with confused expressions written on their faces. Jax blew out a deep breath before lighting up another cigarette.

“I think maybe we should take the rest of this conversation somewhere more private.”

“I don’t think there’s anything left to say,” she shook her head, rising to her feet once again to really leave this time.

“Allie,” he called out again. The hint of desperation, mixed with the apology in his voice gave her pause. “Will you just…”

Jax trailed off, gesturing with his head for her to follow him away from the clubhouse’s main floor and down a side hallway. She’d never been to that part of the clubhouse before, but she had a feeling it led to the dorms where some of the club members stayed or lived, she wasn’t really sure. And while all she wanted to do in this moment was turn on her heel and get the hell out of here, Allie found herself unable to tell him no.

So she trailed after him against her better judgement, and followed him down the hallway.

* * *

Jax held the door open to his dorm, gesturing for Allie to walk through it. She lifted her chin and walked inside his dorm on those high heels, her steps slowing a little as she took in the room. She must’ve realized almost instantly that this was  _ his _ dorm, not some random side room, and he was acutely aware of the way her dark eyes swept around the space. The bed wasn’t made, beer cans littered the side table next to the bed, there were a few dirty dishes sitting right underneath it on the floor, and he’d left a trail of clothes from the bed to the bathroom this morning without a care in the world.

Right about now, Jax felt like he’d just made a huge mistake in bringing her here.

Allie stood off to the side, careful to keep a safe distance away from the bed, and his eyes dropped to her wrist.

He swallowed hard and scrubbed a hand over his face. Somehow, her visit to the clubhouse today had spiraled wildly out of control. He’d never meant to go that far, never meant to scare her...to put his hands on her like that. He couldn’t believe that had happened. Couldn’t make sense of it. Sometimes, though...sometimes she just made him feel so fucking  _ crazy _ and his control slipped right out of his hands.

That was no excuse. And the fact that it happened, that he’d lost his grip on any restraint so goddamn quickly, it left him shaken to his core.

After Jimmy called, he’d been willing to give Allie the benefit of the doubt. She’d already texted him that she was on her way to the clubhouse, and Jax figured she’d also had some bad news to give him about the storage unit deal if she was willing to drive to the clubhouse to talk to him about it. It didn’t help that he’d been so incensed that not even two full weeks into this partnership, they already had some fucking idiot sniffing around and trying to stir up trouble. Not to mention the fact that Allie had been alone in a room with that guy - Ima didn’t count - dealing with that shit on her own. A club member should’ve been in there with her to handle him. That’s all there was to it, and he didn’t care if she disagreed.

He’d waited, as patiently as he could, and in the end, she’d chosen to keep him in the dark. Again.

And when Allie had let the details slip about the true nature of her conversation with Georgie Caruso, he thought he actually might’ve blacked out. It was just for a second, but long enough to completely lose his grasp on reality.

“Look,” he sighed and rubbed a hand over his mouth in frustration. “I didn’t mean to do that before. I shouldn’t have…” he shook his head, “I’m sorry, okay? That won’t happen again.”

Allie nodded tightly, and he could see her chest heaving a little even from a distance. She had every right to be pissed at him, and it definitely wasn’t helping that she was beautiful as fuck when she was angry. 

“Now,” he pressed on, trying his best to keep his voice even. “I really need you to tell me exactly what was said between you and Caruso today. I’m gettin’ the feeling I don’t have the whole story here.”

Because Jimmy definitely hadn’t mentioned that Caruso offered his daughter a starring role in porn. 

Allie chewed on her bottom lip in thought before sighing heavily and lifting her eyes to the ceiling. “Alright. Fine. It’s really not a big deal though -”

“Just tell me, Allie.”

She blew out a deep breath and tucked some dark hair behind her ear. “He might’ve said something about adding me to his talent roster. He also might’ve mentioned a new legal-themed film he was casting for at his studio.”

Something dark and bitter coiled through him, freezing him to the carpet. Jax didn’t think he could move right now if he tried. Here it was again...that crazy, out of control, disconnected, unnerving sense of...he didn’t know what it was, but it felt familiar. All he knew was that he felt out of his body, hovering somewhere between punching a wall and tipping his head back and screaming.

“He says dumb things like that every time I see him, Jax,” Allie offered, like that somehow made any of this better. “I mean, he’s not the first jerk to say something stupid like that to me and he’s not gonna be the last either.”

And Jax still didn’t see how any of that made this better, or excused it away as  _ no big deal _ .

“I’ve learned the hard way that it’s better not to give them the reaction they’re looking for,” she just shrugged. “And I mean, the titles he threw out at me were  _ weak _ .  _ The Hung Jurist _ ?  _ Innocent Until Proven Filthy _ ? Come on, right? Those are the worst.”

His lips quirked a little bit, despite the dark current he was wading in. 

“Besides,” Allie laughed. “Like I’d ever be a lawyer in a porn film, right? Talk about tired stunt casting.”

He found himself frowning back at her. Was she really making jokes about this shit right now? Trying to shake it off like it was all just water under the bridge? Part of him wanted to laugh. The other part of him couldn’t pick up a solid emotion if he tried.

“Allie,” he murmured. “He can’t show up like that, stand in your office, and say that kind of shit. I don’t care if your dad has let him get away with it for years. That fucking stops now.”

She shocked the hell out of him by rolling her eyes. “Jax, do you really think no one has ever asked me if I’d been in a movie before? Threw out the old  _ like mother, like daughter  _ thing because they think it’s funny? You  _ really _ think I can’t handle that?”

He sucked in a deep breath. Yeah, he knew she could handle herself. He’d seen it firsthand. He knew she didn’t suffer fools and that she didn’t take shit from anyone, but that wasn’t the point. This was different. This was personal shit. This was somebody treating her like a fucking second-class citizen. This was someone coming into her workplace and talking to her like she was some kind of...he didn’t even let himself finish that thought. This had happened before - he’d heard it almost every day years ago at school, and even though he’d acted on it once, that didn’t change the fact that she shouldn’t have to put up with stupid assholes running their mouths.

“Those guys are just scummy sleazebags with nothing better to do than give me a hard time about what my parents did for a living,” Allie went on. “Besides, who cares? So what if I  _ was _ in a movie, huh? It’s not like it’s this  _ terrible _ thing to be in porn. Big deal.”

Jax had to admire her strength. Even it was stupid as shit right now. As far as he was concerned, that was the last time Georgie Caruso was going to saunter into Sweet Productions like he owned the place, stealing away actors, and propositioning his lawyer like she was no better than a cheap hooker.

“I get where you’re comin’ from. I really do,” and then he shook his head, “but the club is part of this now, whether you like it or not. We’re not just gonna stand by while he throws his weight around. We defend what’s ours, and that includes the studio. He needs to be put in his place so he knocks this shit off.”

Allie shifted from one foot to the other, her dark eyes hard and unrelenting. While he hadn’t expected her to necessarily get on board with this, he also hadn’t expected her to dig her heels in quite this much. Which, he could see now, was a mistake. Underestimating her in just about any scenario was not a smart idea.

“Okay,” she nodded surprisingly, clearly having sensed they’d come to an impasse. “But I’ll just say this one more time: Caruso is not a threat unless you make him one. Now, I can see why you and Ope wanted to put more security in at my house. I didn’t like it at first, but I see now that I should’ve had something like that in place a long time ago. This is not the same thing. We already have security guards at the studio. We don’t need to add any more and show him we think he’s serious. As soon as he finds out we’ve got club members staked out on security detail, he’s gonna take that as a threat to  _ him _ , he’ll probably even see it as an open invitation, and then he’ll lash out. That’s exactly what will happen if you do this. There. I don’t know what else I can say.”

His lips curled as she glared back at him. Allie, on any given day, was a sight for sore eyes. Allie pissed off was the stuff dreams were made of.

“Well,” Jax told her with a grin. “Your disapproval is noted. I appreciate you tellin’ me what you really think without holdin’ anything back.”

“Right,” she smiled tightly. “But you’re still gonna do whatever you were already gonna do, huh?”

“Like I said, darlin’, that’s not really your call.”

Her eyes flashed dangerously and he found himself biting back another grin. Man, she was  _ really _ not happy with him right now. It was a beautiful thing.

By now, his pulse had calmed a little and he felt like he’d come back to himself and had a tight grip on control again. He’d heard her. He understood where she was coming from, whether she believed him or not. He was in control again here.

“Now, you’re not gonna let this stop you from comin’ to family dinner tonight, are you?”   


Allie leveled a cool glare his way, shifting again on her high heels. He let his eyes drift down the length of her, taking in the leather skirt hugging her curves and the silky leopard button-up that just hinted at some cleavage in the deep V it left on her chest. Then, his lips pulled apart in a slow, satisfied grin.

“I would never dream of disappointing Gemma,” Allie replied flatly.

He just lifted a shoulder. That was probably a good play - Gemma would never let her hear the end of it if she bailed, especially if she bailed after promising she’d show. At some point, he was going to have to share with his mother that he’d decided to give his house to his soon-to-be ex-wife, and maybe he had a chance of surviving if his lawyer was also present in the room when he told her.

Although, at this point, his odds were better that Allie and Gemma would just gang up on him. And he’d grin and bear it because he wasn’t changing his mind.

“Well,” Jax grinned. “I guess I’ll see ya later tonight. Feel free to shoot me a text if you need a ride.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I’m good, thanks.”

“Suit yourself, I guess,” he shrugged, gesturing with his head to his door. “There’s the door. I’m sure you can find your way out.”

Allie lifted her chin, as if daring him to say anything else, to say one more wrong word. He’d like to know exactly what it would take to get her to snap, but that was a project for some other time on some other day. After all, he had a feeling the earth would have to open wide and swallow her whole before she quit and bailed on Opie.

He could keep pushing. He saw that now. Maybe she even liked it just a little bit too.

As if she could read his thoughts, Allie shook her head, and then walked around him, careful to keep a safe distance away from touching him as she passed. Then she gently shut the door behind her.

Jax stared at the closed door for a beat before sinking down onto the edge of his bed. He ran a thumb over his lip, and then he smiled.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to everyone who's read/commented/bookmarked/left kudos! I'm happy to say I'm just finishing up chapter 13 right now and will probably start chapter 14 this weekend. I'm still going to post once a week, since that just seems to work better and give everyone time to catch up too.
> 
> Thoughts on this latest confrontation between Jax and Allie? He was definitely a jerk toward her and acted really irrationally but...he likes her ;)


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick Note: I'm about 98% sure Piper was a boy on the show (and probably younger too), but since it just works better for this story and since I'm not following canon at all anyway, I just decided to make her a teenage girl ;)

The long, winding driveway was already packed with dark SUVs and Harleys by the time Allie pulled in. She glanced at the clock on her dashboard and shook her head. It was 7:02, and Gemma had said to be there at 7:00 - and while Allie normally prided herself on being on time, she’d blown past a turn from the directions Opie had given her, and was now twitching a little because she was two minutes late. But still, bikers weren’t exactly known for their punctuality.

Maybe, where Gemma Teller-Morrow was concerned, they knew to be anything but late.

Because the driveway was already so packed, she opted to park on the street. Allie turned off her ignition and pulled her visor mirror down before she could stop herself. Her hair still pretty much looked like it had before she’d left the house - loose, smooth waves with a little bit of texture. Her makeup was light and natural, but she’d swiped an extra layer or two of mascara on just because it felt like the right thing to do, given where she was going. She’d worn her favorite dusty mauve lipstick that gave her just enough color to look like she was wearing makeup without looking overdone or heavy. Dan had tossed a pair of skinny jeans at her, along with a cream, silky camisole to pair underneath a chunky camel-colored cardigan, and he’d topped off his handiwork with her favorite leather booties.

He knew what he was doing, and she looked pretty damn good. Times like this she was pretty grateful he’d so easily moved into both her life and her house.

Allie jumped a little when her phone pinged in her purse, and she glanced at it long enough to see a text from Dan:  _ Go get em, Tiger. You got this. _

She smiled to herself before checking the mirror one more time just because she couldn’t help herself. Then she blew out a deep breath, summoning the courage to grab her purse and the treats Dan had sent along, and get out of the car. That kind of felt like a Herculean effort right now. All the unknowns of tonight - that’s what really had her on edge. And if she was being honest with herself, she might as well have been shaking in her leather booties.

Yet somehow, Allie found herself standing on Gemma’s front doorstep and hitting the button to ring the doorbell.

She stared down at the plate in her hands, feeling like maybe this had been the wrong choice. Gemma had told her not to bring anything - very literally and directly - but it didn’t feel right to show up to someone’s house for a dinner party and  _ not  _ bring anything. A normal person would’ve brought a bottle or two of wine, but then Allie would have to turn down a glass when someone inevitably opened the bottle and offered to pour her one.

It was easy enough to throw out an excuse like,  _ oh, no thanks, I don’t like to even have one if I know I’m going to be driving _ . That one usually worked pretty well most of the time. Sometimes the old,  _ oh, no thanks, I just don’t like the taste of it  _ would work too, but that typically depended on the audience. Bringing a bottle of wine and then refusing to drink it wasn’t going to cut it.

And because she couldn’t show up for this  _ family dinner  _ empty-handed, Dan had whipped up a batch of his homemade chocolate chip cookies from scratch. Even just thinking that...seemed really, really stupid.

But before she had a chance to backpedal to her car, the front door swung open to reveal the hostess herself. Gemma...looked just like Gemma, with her chunky blonde highlights, tight jeans, and even tighter Harley Davidson T-shirt, and Allie found herself grinning right back at her.

“Hey there, Allie,” Gemma grinned. “I’m so glad you could make it, and…” her dark eyes dropped to the plate in Allie’s hand, “I also thought I said you didn’t have to bring anything. Did you make those? They look pretty damn amazing, I have to say.”

It would’ve been way too easy to take all the credit, but sooner or later, Gemma would probably just find out anyway, so she opted for the truth: “They are pretty amazing, but my roommate made them. He’s the chef and the baker in the house, and he didn’t want me to show up here empty-handed.”

Okay, so maybe she’d thrown Dan  _ a little bit  _ under the bus.  _ She  _ was the one who hadn’t wanted to show up empty-handed, and he’d stepped in to save the day. But he wasn’t here, right? No harm, no foul.

Gemma nodded to her knowingly, almost as if she could read her thoughts, and then scooped the cookie plate out of her hands. She gestured to the open hallway with her, signaling that it was time for Allie to finally step inside. Allie swallowed tightly, and then sucked in a deep breath, groping for courage and coming up empty. That was rough - she’d need all the courage she could get tonight.

Still, Allie trailed after Gemma down the hallway, feeling her chest tighten a little bit more as the voices coming from the kitchen only grew louder. And finally, when the table and the bodies around it came into view, Allie just switched off her brain and decided to roll with it. She was here. She was part of this now, whether she liked it or not, and she could choose to be present in it or fight it every step of the way. Fighting it would only make this more difficult.

“Hey everyone,” Gemma called out as they made their way into the kitchen. “Look who showed!”

A round of loud, happy,  _ heeeyyy _ ’s passed through the room, and almost all the gruff-looking bikers in the room shot her either a wave or a grin, and sometimes even both. Their happy greeting set her a little off-balance, and it was even more disconcerting to see every single one of them without their leather cuts. Without the leather, they almost looked... _ normal _ .

Well, some of them. Others, like Tig and Happy, were already too far gone - Tig with that crazy glint in his eye and Happy with that stoic, right-on-the-edge-of-committing-murder expression on his face. There wasn’t really anything either of those two could do to look even remotely normal.

Allie waved back gingerly, and she scanned the room, grinning when her eyes locked on Lyla, who waved happily back at her. Next to Lyla sat her mini-me, Piper, a tiny thing with Lyla’s long blonde hair and big blue eyes. Allie waved at Piper too, and she grinned back at Allie shyly.

But the table seemed to be missing a few, larger-than-life presences, and Allie’s eyes moved across the room until she found them lingering off to the side in the living room, just beyond the kitchen. Their backs were to her, but she would’ve known them anywhere. Opie, with his overly-long hair hidden by a black beanie, his broad shoulders stretching a white T-shirt across his back. And Jax, with his slicked-back blonde hair, his back covered in the same blue and black flannel he’d been wearing earlier at the clubhouse. 

It was only then that she realized Jax held a phone to his ear as Opie hung to the side, watching carefully.

“So,” Gemma’s voice cut through the noise and Allie jerked her attention back to her. Gemma was gesturing to the refrigerator now with an easy smile, “I’ve got some wine and some mixers in there, if you want. Otherwise, there’s beer in the cooler over there.”

She gestured to the cooler, and Allie pressed a tight smile across her lips. After a silent prayer, Allie opened the refrigerator, scanning the contents and grabbing the first can of soda she could find just as quickly. This was why she tended to avoid things like this - away from the people, like Dan particularly, who didn’t ask questions or look at her funny when she opted not to accept their drink offer. It always made her feel like a little bit of a freak - even though she knew it shouldn’t, that this choice was nothing to be ashamed about, but that didn’t make the excuses any easier or less awkward. 

Luckily, though, most people didn’t bat an eye when she took a bottle of water or a can of soda instead of the other choices. And when Allie turned back around with a hand wrapped around a Coke, Gemma didn’t even blink.

_ There, see?  _ Dan’s voice echoed in her head.  _ Nobody makes a bigger deal out of it than you. _

That was true. And so she decided to just keep it up, to stay on this nonchalant train as long as the ride lasted.

And of course, that was the moment the two missing members of this family gathering decided to make their way back into the kitchen. Allie’s heart stuttered a little at the sight of the club’s president sauntering his way around the table to give his mother a kiss on the cheek. His Reaper cut always gave him a little bit of swagger with an undercurrent of sex and danger all rolled into one. Without the cut, he still had the swagger, but now, sex practically dripped off the worn flannel. Danger was still there too, but now it was a different kind of danger, that held a different kind of warning.

Gemma wrapped an arm around Jax’s neck to pull him in a little closer, “What was that all about, huh? I thought we said no club business at family dinner.”

Jax’s gaze flitted from his mother, landing directly on Allie. For a second, she almost lost her balance. He seemed to sense it, like he could read her mind, and his lips curled into a lop-sided grin that made her chest flutter. Then she remembered the way, only hours before, he’d dismissed her, the way he’d spoken to her, the way he’d chosen not to listen to her, the way he’d manhandled her...and then her balance righted itself.

“Hey, Allie,” Jax smiled at her before shifting his attention back to Gemma, who was waiting impatiently for an answer. “Sorry, Ma. Had to take the call though - it was Harrison.”

Gemma’s eyebrows quirked at that name, and Allie briefly considered sidestepping around them just to get away from this conversation. This was clearly  _ club business  _ and she didn’t need to know anymore about that than she had to. Whoever Harrison was, it was none of her business.

“Any news?” Gemma was saying now, her lips drawn apart in a frown.

Jax just shook his head, shooting a quick glance Allie’s way, as if he didn’t want to say too much with her around. Not that she really needed to know anyway.

“Just an update that there’s no update yet,” Jax told his mother soberly. He smiled at her, but it didn’t quite reach his blue eyes. “He’s workin’ on it, Ma. We’ll find something.”

Even that was probably more information than Allie needed to hear. She politely excused herself, grateful to finally have a real reason to step away. Lyla waved her over, gesturing for Allie to take the seat between her and Piper. Allie didn’t need to be told twice, and she dropped into the chair, feeling a little out of breath too.

“Hi Piper,” Allie smiled at her seatmate brightly, and her grin only widened when the teen smiled back shyly. “How you doing?”

Piper just shrugged, pushing some of her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “Good.”

Allie smiled again, this time turning her head to see Lyla watching their exchange carefully. Allie had only met Piper a handful of times, but every time she saw Piper, it was more of the same. She was an introverted 15-year-old who was obviously uncomfortable in her constantly evolving skin, and it was clear the shyness was more a defense mechanism than anything. Allie knew a little bit about what that felt like.

“Hey, Pipes,” Lyla prodded gently. “Isn’t there something you wanted to talk to Allie about?”

Allie turned back to Piper with an encouraging smile, and she looked down at her hands for a moment, embarrassed by her mom’s gentle nudging. Just as Piper opened her mouth to respond, Gemma started shooing the stragglers into taking their seats at the table. Piper clamped up again after that, and Allie smiled, making a mental note to ask her about this again when they had less of an audience around.

Jax dropped into the chair at the head of the table, with Gemma sliding into the chair at his left. Opie, of course, was directly to his right, with Lyla dutifully seated on the other side of her husband. Allie had two seats between her and Jax, and even then, it felt too close. Part of her wished she could switch seats with Piper, if only to put more of a buffer between them.

“I’m so glad everyone could make it tonight,” Gemma called to the whole table, lifting her beer as she spoke. “We’d gotten away from these dinners for a little while with...everything going on,” she paused, her voice catching on those words, and she smiled tightly when Jax put a comforting hand on her shoulder, “and I want to thank you for being here these last few months. I can’t tell you what that means to me, and I just...I want to get back to this. To family. To the people who are at this table - that’s what really matters. Let’s make this a weekly thing if we can, okay?”

A round of encouraging nods made their way around the table, and everyone followed Gemma’s lead by lifting their drinks in the air.

“To family,” Gemma toasted, lifting her beer even higher in the air.

“To family!” The voices echoed around the table, everyone lifting their drinks high and clanking happily with the person next to them. 

Lyla was already holding up her glass to toast with Allie, “To family!”

Allie smiled back at her, clanking her soda can against Lyla’s glass. “To family.”

That felt good. That felt right, and so she turned to Piper, offering her soda can out for another toast. Piper gingerly lifted her own glass up, keeping her head down a little as she touched her glass to Allie’s can. Then, Allie’s gaze drifted toward the head of the table, only to lock eyes with Jax, who’d been observing the exchange with a smile playing on his lips. He tipped his beer bottle to her, that sexy smirk only widening.

And because she was a civil and mature adult, she returned the gesture, lifting her soda can to him with a small smile.

That was all he was getting.

Luckily enough, plates were starting to get passed around, so that was as good a distraction as any. Allie had just loaded her plate with all the fixings - mouth-watering fried chicken, mac n cheese casserole, cornbread, and green beans with bacon - when Opie cleared his throat to get the table’s attention.

“Hey everyone,” his deep voice rumbled through the table as everyone’s movements stilled. “Lyla and I have some news,” Opie glanced at his wife, who nodded encouragingly, and then he turned back to the table with a happy grin. “She’s gotta bun in the oven.”

A wave of cheers cascaded around the table, and the club members all thumped the table with their fists in a show of happy support. Jax was whistling and thumping his fist louder than anyone else with a wide smile. Allie, for her part, turned to Lyla happily and pulled her in for a quick hug.

“Congratulations!” Allie had to practically yell in her ear above the noisy celebration. “I’m so happy for you guys!”

“Thanks!” Lyla laughed as they pulled apart. “I swear to God I had no idea when I signed my new contract. I promise!”

Allie just laughed and batted a hand at her. “Hey, you know there are still plenty of things you can do behind the scenes. No worries, Lyla.”   


She reached around Lyla to squeeze Opie’s shoulder, and then her gaze drifted to her right and found Piper watching the whole scene with renewed embarrassment, her cheeks even a little pink at the display. Allie bumped Piper with her shoulder and then threw an arm around her shoulders to pull in her. After that, the dinner pretty much went off without a hitch. Everyone ate, chattering away happily about the evening’s news, and by the time most of the plates had cleared, Allie found the opening she was looking for.

“Hey, Piper,” Allie murmured to her. “What did you want to talk to me about before?”

Piper’s head whipped around with wide eyes, like she’d hoped Allie would just forget and never mention it again. Unfortunately for Piper, Allie didn’t forget much of anything. She could see the wheels in Piper’s head turning, probably trying to weigh the likelihood that Lyla would just keep bringing it up if she didn’t come out with it. At some point, Piper just blew out a breath before looking to her mom for a little help.

Lyla caught on almost instantly, and stepped in on her daughter’s behalf, “Piper here told me she’s thinking about going to school to be a lawyer.”

Allie’s eyebrows lifted in surprise, and she grinned happily back at Piper. “That’s great!”

At this point, she was also acutely aware that this conversation had drawn both Gemma and Jax’s attention, but she kept her focus on Piper.

“And?” Lyla prompted gently.

“And,” Piper mumbled, glancing at Allie quickly before shifting her eyes back to the table. “I’m supposed to find someone who’s a lawyer so I can shadow them or something.”

Okay, so she saw where this was going, and Allie leaned in with a smile to put poor Piper out of her misery, “I would love to have you shadow me at the studio.”

It was right on the tip of her tongue to double-check with Lyla that this was really okay, given what happened at the studio, but then again, Lyla was obviously on board with this already. And it wasn’t like Piper wasn’t aware of what her mom did for a living either. It also helped that the studio was very strict about where filming could happen and where it couldn’t - and almost always, filming took place on a closed set, with only the necessary crew around to capture the action. Not to mention the fact that Allie had purposefully chosen the office on the opposite end of the building so she could keep her distance when actors were working on set. Seeing a bunch of guys walking around in loincloths or assless chaps all the time had proven to be an infinite distraction at work until she’d moved her office to the far end of the hallway.

“Just let me know when you want to come by,” Allie told her. “I’m happy to have you in my office for as long as you want. And hey, maybe if you really like it, we could find something for you to do too. God knows I could use the help sorting through all the paperwork on my desk.”

Piper appraised her carefully, chewing on her bottom lip in thought. “You mean like...a  _ job _ ?”

“Yeah,” Allie laughed. “Like a job. But tell you what, why don’t you shadow me a few times just to see what you think. I mean, you could absolutely hate it, right? Business law isn’t exactly all that interesting all the time, if you know what I mean. And, after that, we can go from there.”

“That sounds pretty good, right?” Lyla jumped in helpfully.

Piper bit her lip again, shifting a little uncomfortably in her chair. She glanced across the table, and Allie followed her gaze to find Gemma observing the exchange with a warm smile. Gemma’s eyes shifted to Jax, who, the moment he felt his mother’s eyes on him, dropped his gaze to the plate of cookies in front him and snatched one up with a ringed hand.

Gemma threw her son a side-eye before taking one of Dan’s cookies for herself too. She took a quick bite, nodding to herself. “Yep, these are good, just like I knew they would be. You tell your roommate to send along more of these next week. Hell, bring him along if you want. I’d love to meet him.”

“Oh, I’m sure he would just  _ love  _ that. Probably a little too much, actually.”

Gemma shot her a conspiratorial grin, leaning an elbow on the table so she could lean in. “He’s...he works for your dad, right? As an actor?”

“He does.”

“And,” Lyla offered in a sing-song voice, “Dan also happens to be one of the most popular actors in gay porn since...like, ever.”

“Yeah,” Allie laughed as Gemma’s eyes widened gleefully. “Apparently, I live with a  _ very _ famous man. He thinks he’s got some mad skills too.”

“Oh Jesus,” Opie muttered under his breath, shaking his head at Jax, who just huffed out a laugh.

But Jax was listening, though. She felt like, through this entire dinner, Jax’s attention had never strayed that far, always perpetually watching her, observing her, listening to her. 

Gemma’s lips curled, and she leaned forward even more: “So you ever seen any of his movies then?”

Allie pulled her lips apart a little in a grimace, crossing her arms on the table as she spoke. “Ah...I’ve seen about 30 seconds of one and that was enough for me.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jax rub his thumb across his lips to hide his smile. So, she pressed on.

“I mean, that would be like watching one of my dad’s old movies from the 80s. There’s just no coming back from that, you know? I don’t think I’d ever be able to look him in the eye again.”

Gemma grinned knowingly as Lyla laughed heartily next to her. There really wasn’t much more she could say about that - it was what it was. They did for a living...what they did for a living. And, again, out of the corner of her eye, she could see Jax watching her with an amused grin slipping across his handsome face. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

“I know what you mean,” Lyla nodded. “I’ve never been able to watch more than a minute or two of my friends’ movies...I mean, it’s one thing to watch a movie just to  _ watch _ one, right?”

“Exactly!” Allie laughed, even as Gemma shook her head in amused disbelief. “Who cares! It’s just sex,” at that moment, Allie remembered who was sitting next to her, and shrugged at Piper, “for people who are old enough and ready to explore what they like and what they don’t like in a healthy way.”

Piper’s nose crinkled, sliding down a little in her chair, and she shook her head, as if to will this conversation away. Against her better judgment, Allie let her eyes shift to the head of the table, where Jax was already examining her with a cocked eyebrow and a grin that sent her heart stuttering in her chest.

So, she forced her attention elsewhere.

“It’s a whole other thing to see a movie with someone you know in it,” Allie continued, hoping no one noticed the way her voice shook ever so slightly. “Like your friends.”

“Or your roommate,” Lyla commiserated with a nod.

“ _ Or _ ,” Allie shuddered a little in her chair. “Your dad. And even worse, your dad  _ and  _ your mom in the same movie.  _ Together _ .”

At this point, she was grateful everyone listening in on this conversation laughed right along with her. She’d learned through serious trial, error, and heartache that it was better to find the humor in it, rather than focus on the negative, like the fact that starring in those movies had not only brought her parents together, but also sent them spiraling down headfirst into drugs and booze. Those movies had ruined her mother. Their continued popularity eventually resurrected her father. They’d left behind a legacy that basically made them porn royalty, despite their devastatingly different fates. And Allie had had to find a way to look that legacy in the eye.

Now, Allie shifted her focus away from the sparkling blue eyes at the head of the table and turned instead to Lyla and Gemma, who was laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes.

“You know I found an old,  _ old  _ movie poster with them on it once?” Allie threw out, and even Jax’s shoulders shook with laughter now. “I’m not even joking, the title of the movie was  _ Ghost Thrusters _ . They had those ghostbuster gun things strapped around their waists. I’m not 100 percent sure because I’d rather die than watch it, but I’m  _ pretty  _ sure my parents had a lot of sex with ghosts in that one.”

Even Allie covered her face to hide her laughter after that as Jax barked out a laugh. She glanced at Piper from in between her fingers to find the poor thing all but hiding under the table.

“Wasn’t that their thing though?” Lyla managed in between bursts of laughter. “Like a play on all those famous 80s movies?”

“Oh yeah,” Allie nodded grimly. “ _ In Diana Jones and the Temple of Poon  _ was a pretty popular one.”

By now, Gemma’s shoulders were shaking so hard she looked like she was having a heart attack, and she wiped a tear from her eye. Opie, for his part, was more mortified than anything. And Jax...he was laughing, sure, but he was also watching her with an expression she couldn’t quite place.

“Oh, what was the name of that one…” Lyla tapped her chin in thought, her eyes brightening when she came up with it. “ _ Add Momma To The Train _ !”

Gemma clapped a hand to her mouth. “I saw that one actually.”

“Oh my God,” Allie replied flatly.

“And,” Gemma went on with a devilish grin. “Now that I think of it, I also saw  _ The Sperminator _ . That was a  _ good  _ one.”

“What?” Allie laughed, shaking her head in disbelief. 

“And,” Gemma added. “ _ For Your Thighs Only _ . Now  _ that  _ was good fuckin’ porn!”

“Oh. My. God,” Allie laughed. This was crazy, right? Sitting here, with these people, talking and laughing like they’d all been together for years, comfortable enough with each other to have an easy-going conversation. Who would’ve thought porn would be the great equalizer tonight?

“Okay, okay,” Allie wiped her eyes, taking in a deep breath to abate the laughter for just a second. “Well, how about  _ When Harry Ate Sally _ ?”

Lyla burst out laughing, and Gemma just sent Allie a sly grin. “I saw that one.”

“What?” Allie cried out through her laughter.

“Me too,” Jax chimed in with a roguish smile.

Allie’s mouth dropped open, her eyes wide as she clapped her hands on the table. “No!”

She covered her face with her hands, her shoulders shaking with laughter, and when she unearthed herself, her gaze drifted to Jax as if it had a mind of its own. Their eyes locked and for the first time in...probably ever, they laughed together. Genuine, true laughter stemming from just enjoying each other’s company. Jax grinned brightly back at her, and the impact of that, of seeing him smiling at her in genuine happiness, without a hint of just about anything else...it was staggering.

Allie had to tear her eyes away. It was making her feel too much, here at this table, surrounded by all these people. The way he’d looked at her...it was hard to reconcile this Jax, sitting just a few seats away from her, looking at her like she was the only person in the room, with the Jax from a few hours ago, who’d spoken to her like she was just the hired help who needed to keep her head down and her mouth shut.

Whiplash. That’s what this was.

So, in pure self-preservation, Allie turned her focus to the teenager at her right, who was shaking her head in her hands like the entire conversation she’d just been witness to was all a bad nightmare.

“Trust me,” Allie whispered to Piper as she put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “If you can’t laugh about your parents being in porn, then what can you laugh at?”

That managed to get a half a smile from Piper. And when she glanced back to the head of the table, Jax was still watching her.

* * *

Allie carried the last of the dishes from the table to the kitchen, where Gemma and Lyla were already congregating, moving easily from the sink to the dishwasher and back to the sink again. She was scraping some of the leftover mac n cheese casserole into a glass storage container, when she heard a familiar, deep voice call out:

“Hey, Ma?”

All three women turned to face Jax, who’d sauntered into the kitchen, but stopped short a few feet away from them with his hands shoved deep inside his front pockets. He pressed a tight smile on his face, a far cry from his demeanor during dinner, and his blue eyes drifted between the three of them, lingering a little on Allie before settling on his mother.

“Can we talk a minute?”

Gemma just shrugged, glancing at Lyla as she nodded good-naturedly before wiping her hands with a towel and then walking out of the kitchen to find Opie. Allie started to do the same, quickly dumping the rest of the casserole into the smaller glass dish, but Jax’s voice stilled her movements.

“Actually, I’d feel a lot better havin’ this conversation if I had my lawyer present.”

Allie whipped around from where she stood by the counter, her eyes widening with surprise. Gemma, however, narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her son and hitched a hand on her hip, a towel still in her hand.

“And why is that, Jackson? What exactly do you have to talk to me about that you need a lawyer next to you for?”

For the first time in the entire time she’d known him, Jackson Teller actually looked scared. That was real, tangible fear flickering across his usually cocky face. His back was stiff and his shoulders tensed, like he was gearing up for a fight. Considering who he was up against, he probably had every right to feel that way. And the longer they stood there in silence, the more Allie had a pretty good idea what this was about.

“Well?” Gemma cocked an eyebrow at him, and then glanced expectantly at Allie. “You know what this is about?”

Allie blew out a deep breath, afraid to say just about anything, and then shook her head. And now, Gemma narrowed her dark eyes at  _ her _ , clearly sensing that Allie knew exactly what was going on here, and still opted not to say anything. 

“Ma,” Jax started, pausing long enough to suck in a harsh breath. “I’m givin’ Wendy the house.”

Gemma stilled, her eyes glinting like dark shards of ice. She tossed the dish towel in her hand into the sink angrily before turning on her heel to face her son, both hands hitched on her hips in defiance. “You’re  _ what _ ?”

“Ma -”

She held out a hand in the air, and Jax dropped whatever he’d been about to say immediately. Jesus, that was like...magic or something. Allie could only marvel at the deft way Gemma handled this man, the way she completely and utterly controlled him in this moment. It was one of the most amazing things Allie had seen in a long time.

“Is she payin’ you for your half?” Gemma practically snarled, and even Allie had to take a step back at the danger lurking in Gemma’s voice. 

Jax just sighed and backpedalled until his hip hit the stove. He kicked his feet out in front of him as he leaned back and crossed his arms defensively over his chest.

When she didn’t get the answer she was looking for from her son, Gemma turned her harsh gaze on Allie. “Well? Is she payin’ him for his half?”

Whoa, she was not prepared for this tonight. Not one bit. But Gemma’s hard glare didn’t budge, compelling Allie to respond. 

She swallowed hard and tentatively shook her head.

“Jesus Christ,” Gemma hissed, knifing her glare back to her son. “I told you to shit or get off the pot with Wendy, not fuckin’ give her everything in the goddamn divorce!”

“Well, to be fair,” Allie offered softly, sucking in a shaky breath when Gemma swiveled her head to face her. “Wendy’s not getting  _ everything _ , just the house and some other assets that they’re splitting.”

Allie’s gaze shifted to Jax, and she found him staring back at her with gratitude swimming in his blue eyes. Now, she got it. She understood why Jax had asked her to stay for this conversation, even though she felt like she was intruding on a very private discussion between a mother and her son that she had no business being part of.

And, as Gemma’s dark eyes darted between the two of them, Gemma seemed to understand it too.

“Okay,” she huffed. “I see what this is. You wanted her here,” Gemma gestured to Allie as she spoke, “because you think I’m not gonna make a big scene with her standin’ here. Because you think she’ll be able to help you convince me that you’re making the right call when this is probably the  _ stupidest _ thing you’ve done in a long, long line of very stupid mistakes, Jackson.”

Jax blew out a breath and scrubbed his face with both hands. When his hands dropped to his waist, he shoved them into his front pockets again before glancing up at Allie, a flash of apology flickering across his face. And now she really did get it. Back-up. That’s what she was here for. He needed back-up with his mother, and he’d enlisted her.

“I know you don’t agree,” Jax started again, this time his voice was firm and resolute. “I knew you wouldn’t like this. But I...I just needed to give her somethin’, okay? It didn’t feel right to walk away without making sure she was gonna be okay and -”

“And you think giving her the house is the way to do that? Jesus Christ, Jax! You know what she’s gonna do - she’s gonna sell the house and inject herself with the cash. You know that, right? That’s where this is heading. So nice goddamn job!”

Jax inhaled slowly, careful to keep his expression calm and measured. “You told me what she did wasn’t my responsibility. That if she chose to go down that road again, it wasn’t my fault. You’re right about that, Ma. So if she throws it away and sells the house, that’s her problem, not mine.”

Her mouth opened to respond, but then she snapped her mouth shut again just as quickly. Allie shifted a little uncomfortably from side to side, feeling more and more like she really shouldn’t be here right now. Like maybe she needed to get herself out of this while she still could.

“You know, I…” Allie pushed out, her steps starting to carry her out of the kitchen as she spoke. “I think maybe I should just -”

“Allie,” Jax’s hoarse voice called to her and she skidded in her tracks. “Just...stay.”

Allie glanced up, finding Jax imploring her to stay in the kitchen, willing her not to leave him alone with his mother, and she couldn’t bring herself to walk away. But when she dared to shift her focus back to the other person in the room, she found Gemma observing their silent exchange curiously, her eyes darting back and forth between them. Something shifted in the air then, turning this whole situation on its head and flipping it over on its side. The animosity faded from Gemma’s face, and she shifted on her heels, but this time, the movement was calmer, less hostile than before.

“Alright,” Gemma allowed quietly, but her voice and her eyes were still hard as she narrowed her focus on her son. “But someone still needs to explain to me why you think you need to just throw away your house like that. All that money, Jax, that downpayment you put on it, the money you spent on the furniture...you don’t have to walk away with nothing just because you feel guilty.”

Jax’s eyes dropped to the floor, and he swallowed tightly. His shoulders were hunched a little, almost like the weight of the world had suddenly landed on his shoulders. Pain and guilt twisted his face, and then he ran a hand tiredly over his eyes.

“And what if I said I didn’t want the house, Ma?”

Gemma frowned, cocking her head to the side. “What do you mean, you don’t want it?”

He sighed again, letting his eyes flicker over Allie for just a second before reluctantly shifting his gaze back to his mother. “That house doesn’t mean anything to me. I think you know that. Yeah, I’m paying for it right now, but I’ve never even really lived there. It was more a crash pad in between nights at the clubhouse anyway. Wendy’s lived there for two years - that’s her home, not mine. And maybe she deserves to keep it after the shit I’ve pulled.”

Gemma blew out a deep breath, her shoulders falling with resignation. “I suppose I can see where you’re comin’ from with that.”

“It’s not my home, Ma, and it doesn’t mean anything to me,” Jax shook his head resolutely. “The way I see it, I get to unload somethin’ that’s got nothin’ but bad memories for me, and Wendy doesn’t get thrown out on the street. What she does with it after that is up to her.”

Against all odds, Gemma nodded. It wasn’t a happy nod, by any stretch, but it was probably the best Jax was going to get, at least for a while. And then, Gemma tipped her chin toward Allie.

“And you,” Gemma told her. “What do you think of all this?”

Allie knew she had to tread lightly here. This really wasn’t any of her business, and she didn’t really want anything to do with it in the first place. But Jax’s swimming blue eyes held her in place. 

“You mean...in my professional opinion?” she threw out unsteadily.

“Sure,” Gemma nodded, a tiny smile curling the side of her face.

Allie blew out a deep breath, chewing on the side of her cheek in thought. “Well, from a legal standpoint, Jax and Wendy would split the house anyway if he didn’t sign it over to her. If Jax wanted to keep it, Wendy would have to pay him for her half to settle that and...I don’t know Wendy, but I get the impression she doesn’t have the money to do that or good enough credit history to get a loan to pay him?”

She waited, and both Jax and Gemma sent her a tight nod in confirmation.

“So, they’d probably have to sell the house and then split the sale, which, from a financial and legal standpoint would be what I would’ve recommended, but here we are. It sounds to me like the end goal is for one of them to have the house and live in it, and selling it doesn’t solve that either,” Allie paused there, choosing her words carefully and very aware of the attention currently focused on her. “If Jax wants to give it to her...it’s his property. He’s always had good instincts as long as I’ve known him, and I think it’s fair to trust those instincts now.”

Something flickered across Jax’s face that she couldn’t quite reconcile. Maybe that was because she felt like she’d stepped outside her body and was watching this like a fly on the wall, not participating in something she had no business getting involved in. Somehow, Jax had once again strong-armed her into doing what he wanted, only this time it seemed like he’d done it more out of desperation than anything.

“And,” Allie added just for good measure. “It sounds like giving Wendy the house will resolve all this faster, maybe make her more willing to cooperate when it comes time to sign the papers and not try to fight it. If that’s what it takes to get it over with, and Jax is willing to do it, I guess I don’t see a problem with it either.”

Gemma studied her carefully, and for a moment, it felt like Gemma was taking meticulous appraisal of everything about her, from her leather booties and her skin, all the way to dissecting every word, every inflection in her voice. Whatever Gemma found in her, she played it close to the chest, giving away nothing, and it was all Allie could do to keep her knees from quaking. Finally, Gemma regarded her son with a cocked eyebrow.

“So where exactly are you plannin’ on livin’ then?”

A slow, confident grin spread across Jax’s face. He knew he’d worn his mother down now - with Allie’s reluctant help - and that arrogance, that swagger he wore like armor slid back into place. 

He spread his arms out with a smirk. “Right here, Ma. I’m plannin’ on movin’ back in with you. It’ll be just like old times.”

Gemma huffed, tossing a dish towel at his face in exasperation, but all the tension had evaporated now. “Like hell you are.”

Jax grinned back at her. “There’s nothin’ wrong with my dorm at the clubhouse for now,” he lifted a shoulder, “I’ll figure it out eventually.”

Gemma nodded with a small smile, even if it didn’t quite reach her eyes, and she finally stepped close enough to put a hand on his cheek. “I know you will. You know I just want you to be happy, and if throwin’ away your house and all that money you put into it makes you happy, then I guess that’s it, huh?”

“Pretty much,” Jax grinned back at her.

And it was this moment that Allie knew she’d really gone above and beyond the boundaries of her responsibilities here as Jax’s legal counsel. Not like she ever should have been part of this conversation in the first place, but still, it was about that time.

“I, uh…” Allie pushed out a little too roughly. “I think I should probably get going. I was planning on heading to the studio early tomorrow anyway.”

“Okay, sweetheart,” Gemma smiled back at her with a nod. Her eyes held just a little bit of disappointment, like she’d been hoping Allie would stay longer, but as far as Allie was concerned, she’d stayed about an hour too long. Then Gemma tipped her head toward Jax, “Why don’t you walk her out? Make sure she makes it to her car okay.”

Protest was right on the tip of Allie’s tongue, but Gemma just shook her head at her, signaling that this wasn’t up for debate. And at this point, Allie knew better than to try to argue with Gemma, especially in her own house.

So her gaze flicked to Jax. “I just have to grab my purse and say goodbye to everyone.”

He nodded silently, and she didn’t linger in the kitchen any longer than she had to, hightailing it back to the table where she’d left her purse, and after a hurried goodbye, a few hugs too, Allie walked back into the kitchen. Gemma was murmuring something lowly into Jax’s ear, but as soon as she realized Allie was back, Gemma stepped away from her son and headed straight for Allie with her arms open wide.

“Thank you for coming,” Gemma murmured in her ear as she squeezed her tight. “I’m glad you could make it.”

As Gemma let her arms slip away from Allie’s shoulders, Allie found herself smiling back at her. “Thank you for inviting me.”

“Any time, sweetheart. Now, you’re gonna come back for the next one, right? And bring your roommate too. I really wanna meet that guy now.”

“Okay,” Allie laughed. “Sure.”

They stepped away from each other as Jax held open the side door in the kitchen. Allie waved a little to Gemma before stepping through that side door, knowing Jax was right on her heels.

* * *

Jax trailed after her, finally feeling like he could really breathe for the first time tonight. He’d known that conversation with Gemma wasn’t going to be an easy one, but it’d gone as well he probably could’ve hoped for. Relatively speaking. With a deep exhale, he felt a little more like himself. A little more like things were really going to be okay.

He slid his cigarette pack out of the front pocket of his flannel shirt, brought one to his lips, and lit it, sucking in a quick hit of nicotine. Now, normalcy felt more within his grasp.

“You know, you could’ve warned me,” Allie called out over her shoulder.

“‘Bout what?”

Allie’s steps slowed just long enough so she could shoot him an exasperated glance. “Seriously?”

He held up both hands in defense, grinning at her as he took another long drag from his cigarette, careful to blow the smoke away from her. “Alright, alright. I guess maybe that wasn’t fair.”

She just lifted an eyebrow at him, and he chuckled.

“But in my defense,” he laughed. “I figured if I gave you a heads up, that would give you way too much time to consider throwin’ me under the bus with Gemma.”

Allie’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly, but her lips still turned up into a soft smile. “I suppose.”

“But thank you, by the way,” Jax grinned down at her. He liked the way this felt, how easy it was to fall into step beside her. “For havin’ my back with her like that. I really appreciate it.”

“Well,” Allie just shrugged, and he found himself wishing Gemma’s driveway was just a little bit longer. “I just told her the truth. That’s what you pay me for, right?”

He hesitated at that. It was a cold dose of reality - the reminder that her responsibility to him had more to do with the fact that she was on Samcro’s payroll now than anything else. That maybe she’d stayed in the kitchen with him, not because he’d asked, but because she felt like it was part of her job to explain the legalities of his impending divorce to his overbearing, stubborn as hell mother.

And honestly, if that’s the way Allie felt, it was probably just easier that way. They really  _ should  _ stay professional and keep their interactions solely to matters at the studio and with the club. But then Gemma went and invited Allie into the fold, and he wasn’t sure if there was any coming back from that now. Seeing her sitting at the table, sandwiched easily between Lyla and Piper, sharing stories, laughing with them like it was the most natural thing in the world...it had felt right, having her there.

He didn’t know what to do with that. Didn’t know how he was supposed to feel or what he was even supposed to do about it.

So, the best he could do was let a grin curl around his lips, and reply, “Sure.”

“You know,” Allie shot him a quick glance before squaring her shoulders again. “That was actually half-way decent of you - giving Wendy the house, I mean.”

“Well,” he smirked. “Good to know you think I’m a half-way decent guy.”

Maybe, somewhere deep down, it  _ did _ matter that she thought he was a half-way decent guy. Only a few days ago, she’d referred to him as a  _ dick  _ and an  _ asshole _ , maybe not to his face, but still...half-way decent was a step in a different direction.

Against his better judgment, he glanced over his shoulder and back at the house. A few of the blinds were open just a hair in the kitchen, and they snapped back into place almost immediately. Jax just shook his head - his mother really needed to get a life.

“So, um,” Allie was saying now as they approached her silver BMW. “If you can have Bobby send me the info on those buildings you mentioned earlier, I can get started on that first thing tomorrow.”

“Alright,” he nodded easily. “I’d like to hear your thoughts.”

And, as she opened her driver’s side door and slid inside, he realized just how much he meant that. He really did want to know her opinion. This was different than other club business, different than whatever the fuck Georgie Caruso thought he was pulling at the studio...this was  _ real  _ business, legitimate business, and the further he dipped his toes in, the more he realized he didn’t really have much experience to light his path. This was exactly why the club hired her in the first place. They needed her to not only draft the deals, but help them make the  _ right  _ deals too.

“Okay,” she smiled softly. “We’ll be in touch then, I guess.”

“Sounds good, darlin’.”

Allie rolled her eyes a little, and then promptly shut her car door in his face with a laugh. When she waved before starting her car and driving off, Jax found himself staring down the street long after her car disappeared into the horizon. 

He’d managed to go the whole night without finding some excuse to touch her. Granted, he was in his mother’s house, surrounded by the club, but he’d missed it. Feeling her stiffen underneath his touch, watching her cheeks flush pink, leaning in close enough to breathe in her musky perfume. Sometimes, he caught a whiff of lavender too.

But, he would never touch her the way he had at the clubhouse ever again. Even he could see that had gone too far, that he’d been too rough, too violent.

_ Well _ , Jax thought as a sly grin slipped across his face.  _ I guess I’ll only be touching her when it’s clear she wants me to. _

With that, he flicked some ash from his cigarette, his eyes still lingering on the empty street, and then he headed back inside the house, satisfied with how this night had played out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who's read/reviewed/bookmarked/left kudos! I can't tell you what your feedback means to me! I'm just starting chapter 16 this week, so things are coming along pretty nicely ;)
> 
> Thoughts on family dinner??


	10. Chapter Ten

The hallways of Sweet Productions were bustling. Filming was underway - in a few places, it seemed, but try as he might, Jax couldn’t get a good look at any of the action. Apparently, they had pretty damn strict rules about who could be in the room and who couldn’t, and everything was closed off so that a random bystander, much like himself, couldn’t just peek in for the money shot.

And here he’d thought this partnership would have more fringe benefits.

He glanced at his vice president, who’d fallen into step beside him, before looking over his shoulder to find Tig trying, and failing, to turn the knobs on one of the doors that led to a set. The sick bastard couldn’t just peek like a normal person, could he? Had to stick his nose in just about anything and everything he could.

“Yo, Tig,” Jax called out to him lightly.

Tig’s focus snapped back at the sound of his president’s voice, and his shoulders fell in disappointment. No way he would look guilty - Jax was pretty sure he didn’t feel he had anything to be guilty about. If anything, Tig was just sorry he’d gotten caught.

“We got business to take care of first,” Jax told him with a grin. “After that, you can perv in on the action all you want. Just don’t get caught.”

A slow, slightly depraved grin crawled across Tig’s face even as Bobby pulled him away. Yeah, he had a feeling it was probably best to keep Tig on a tight leash when he wasn’t on the job around here. When he was on security detail rotation, Jax trusted him just as much as the next brother to keep his eyes and his hands to himself and do the job. Technically, they were on the job right now - but they were headed to a stuffy conference room, not patrolling the halls for any sign of Georgie Caruso.

On cue, Jax nodded to Juice as they passed, and Juice sent him a stoic nod in return. Juice stood straight, a little bit stiff even, and then he went back to work, heading down the hallway in the opposite direction to continue his patrol.

“You know,” Opie muttered to him. “Between me and you, I’m kinda glad Lyla’s gonna get away from all this for a while. Maybe it’ll stick, you know?”

Jax clapped him on the shoulder with a grin. If he was in Ope’s size 13s, he imagined he’d probably feel the same way. Sometimes, Jax wasn’t really sure how Opie was able to move past it. Now, it was one thing to mess around with a porn star. It was another thing to fall in love with one and marry her, not to mention knock her up. At least Lyla had moved to girl-on-girl films only when she and Ope got serious, but the evidence of everything that had come before was on film. No escaping that, as Allie had so aptly reminded him at family dinner.

Luckily enough, Allie had also been able to help Lyla slide into writing, instead of acting - apparently, the actors’ contracts allowed for such a thing in case of these very circumstances. Lyla was happy and even seemed excited by the change that still allowed her a role at the studio, just a different one. Jax couldn’t blame Opie for hoping Lyla would decide she preferred this new role over her former one.

They meandered down the hallway, headed for the conference room Allie had given him directions to earlier, only slowing their steps when the club’s lawyer materialized in the hallway. She tucked some dark hair behind her ear with a huff, resting a fist on her hips when their eyes locked. Even in her high heels, she was more pocket-sized than anything. And, he noted with a slow smile, she looked pissed.  _ Really  _ pissed.

Just the way he liked her.

“You’re late,” Allie called out to them, irritation flickering across her beautiful face. She crossed her arms over her chest, and he half-expected her to start tapping one of her high heels impatiently.

He slipped his prepay from his cut, glancing at the time with a shrug. “It’s 4:06.”

“Yes,” Allie replied tightly. “And I said to be here by 3:45.”

“Sure,” Jax drawled, casting a quick glance at Opie, who just grimaced a little. “But our meeting starts at…” he trailed off, biting down on his bottom lip to keep from grinning, “4:00.”

Allie’s lips curled into an annoyed smile, tight with tension and completely humorless. Even Bobby seemed to waver a little, shifting from side to side, as he waved apologetically to her. Tig just winked at her.

Seeing as though there was still some distance between them in this long hallway, Jax seized this opportunity to let his eyes linger on her legs, which were mostly hidden by a tan suede pencil skirt. She wasn’t showing anywhere near enough skin, with her white and blue striped shirt that went all the way up to her neck, tucked into that skirt. Still, just the little flashes she  _ did  _ show, like delicate forearms, muscular calves, a slim neck...maybe that was enough too.

He figured she had good reason to cover up around here, and that was why he’d never seen her in skirts that fell above the knee or in shirts cut low enough to get even a hint of cleavage. Her role in this studio was drastically different than almost all the other women here. Even the female writers, directors, and producers the studio had on staff tended to dress more like they were auditioning for a role rather than in a professional workplace. Although, he figured  _ professional  _ was a relative term around here.

But it was the irritation flashing across her face that pulled him in the most. And he found himself feeling more than a little grateful that she made the fashion choices she did around here, for a lot of reasons.

“Just so we’re clear, when I say please be here for the meeting by 3:45, what I really mean is please be here by 3:45 for the meeting, ” Allie told him sourly as they ventured closer to where she stood in the hallway. “I wanted to go over a few things with you  _ before  _ the meeting started,  _ before  _ the sellers show up.”

He cocked an eyebrow at her with a smirk. “They here yet?”

Allie’s lips parted, and then she blew out an exasperated sigh. “No, but that’s not the point.”

Jax held up both hands in defense, chuckling as he stepped around her to head inside the empty conference room. “Duly noted, captain.”

She just sighed again, gesturing for Opie to follow in after Jax and greeting Bobby and Tig with a much friendlier smile than she’d given him, but he figured he could let that slide. Opie put a warm hand on Allie’s shoulder as he led her inside, murmuring something into her ear that made her lips crack apart in a laugh. 

Jax chose to drop into a chair instead of lingering inside the room, taking quick inventory of the conference room’s nondescript grey walls and the generic pictures on the wall. Allie had suggested that both sides meet at the studio, a more neutral setting, and Jimmy hadn’t had a problem with the club using one of his conference rooms for non-studio business. And, he figured, if the sellers were okay with taking a meeting at a porn studio, they’d be more than okay with doing business with an MC too.

Opie dutifully took his place at Jax’s side, and Bobby and Tig followed suit within a few moments. In the grand scheme of things, only Jax and Bobby really needed to be present for this. Jax’s signature was needed to ink the final offer, and Bobby, as the club’s treasurer, was technically wielding the club’s checkbook, so to speak. Opie had really only tagged along as an excuse to check in on Lyla, and Tig...Tig came for the view.

Allie started to follow down the long table, her steps stalling as it became clearer and clearer to her that her seating options were either next to Jax at his left, or on the other side of the table with the opposing side. From the corner of his eye, he watched her warily as her shoulders straightened in resignation and she slid gingerly into the chair next to him.

Without even sparing him a glance, Allie slipped into work mode, setting her phone and a few folders down on the table in front of her. She also set a pen down in between them, careful not to make eye contact with him. Then she flipped one of the folders open and pushed a set of papers at him.

“Before we start, I just wanted to make sure that…”

Allie trailed off at a knock on the conference room door, and Jax glanced up to see a small group of people had congregated at the entrance - only one of them was in a monkey suit, the other guys looked more normal in their jeans and button-up shirts. Obviously, the sellers and their lawyer.

“See?” Allie muttered to him under her breath. “This is why you get here  _ before _ they show up.”

He knew she might as well have been scolding him like he was a little kid, but he just shrugged it off. She could reprimand him all she wanted as far as he was concerned. Jax shot a glance down the table to see Opie grimacing back at Allie in apology. Bobby shrugged nonchalantly. And Tig wagged his eyebrows suggestively at her - but the second Jax cocked an eyebrow at him in warning, Tig dropped the act and squared his shoulders.

Allie rose to her feet, quickly shaking hands with the guys who’d just entered the conference room.

“Hello, I’m Attorney Allie Levy,” she greeted them warmly, gesturing to the open chairs across the table. “Please have a seat.”

Then she turned to Jax, “And this is Mr. Tel-”

Jax leaned forward with his hand outstretched, swiftly cutting her off. “Jax Teller,” he shook their hands, willfully ignoring the exasperation from his lawyer, and then tipped his chin at the rest of his club brothers sitting to his right. They went down the line, one by one, introducing themselves, and when everyone settled back into their seats, Allie didn’t waste any time before sliding a stack of papers across the table to the sellers’ attorney to finish this deal.

The speed that had brought this whole deal together still had Jax’s head spinning. After family dinner at Gemma’s house, he’d had Bobby send some info to Allie the next morning, just like she’d asked. Within the span of a few hours, Allie texted him with the recommendation to move forward as quickly as they could get the cash together.

It was straight-forward, she’d said, and would be an easy sale since the building had already been on the market for a few months with no other offers. Not to mention the fact that all the club would have to do was collect rent from the current tenant, a locally-owned gym that a few of the club members - Jax included - frequented from time to time anyway. They knew the gym’s owner, knew he was a reliable guy who’d pay his rent and pay it on time. All in all, this was probably as low-risk an investment as they were ever going to find. So, they’d jumped in with an offer and Allie had delivered, all in about 48 hours. She’d even sent him a few late-night texts with updates on the status of the club’s offer.

While he was continually impressed by her work ethic, he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t a little disappointed those late-night texts had been strictly all about business.

So here they were, with only the loose ends of inspections to tie up, ready to hand over their earnest money in person to seal the deal. According to Allie, they’d officially close at a later date, but this meeting today was a show of good faith from both sides that all were in agreement and ready to move forward.

Kinda like how the partnership deal with Cara Cara and Sweet Productions  _ should’ve _ gone down, had Luann not royally shit the bed.

So this was it. The next step in the right direction. They were one more deal closer to getting the cash flow they needed to survive and get the hell away from everything else once and for all. Jax couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride that they were even sitting here in this conference room right now - the club had come a long way since Clay’s death, and it had only been about three months.

“That’s a copy of my clients’ final offer,” Allie was saying now, nodding her head to the set of papers sitting in front of the sellers’ lawyer. “You’ll see that everything’s in order. And then we…”

She trailed off as her phone pinged on the table. Allie blinked, reaching blindly for her phone before turning her attention back to the other side of the table. 

“I’m so sorry about that.”

She sucked in a deep breath as her eyes skimmed whatever was so goddamn important that she had to interrupt this meeting for. This meeting, that, was completely legitimate with no discussion of anything illegal or under the table, no side deals or backdoor dealings. This meeting, that, for better or worse, signified the club’s continued trajectory down the path toward becoming real civilians and side-stepping that 1% patch. This meeting, that, was clearly not as important to her as whoever had just texted her.

Allie promptly set her phone back down on the table, and got back to business. He threw her a side-eye, cocking an eyebrow her way, but since her focus was squarely on the matter at hand, she either chose to ignore or just didn’t see it.

Her cheeks flushed pink, and he’d normally feel a little thrill by the sight, but her embarrassment made his fists clench underneath the table.

The rest of the meeting went off without any more unnecessary disruptions. Bobby handed over their earnest money check to the sellers’ attorney for safe-keeping until closing, and Jax and the sellers both signed the final offer to officially sign on the dotted line. Then they all shook hands like the civilized members of the community they were.

With the meeting over, and the sellers and their lawyer on their way out the door, Jax turned his head to see Allie frowning down at her phone. Her shoulders were tense and her back stood stick straight in her chair.

“What the hell was that about, huh?” Jax muttered hotly to her, leaning in close enough so she could hear him. “Not very professional of you,  _ Attorney _ Levy.”

Allie’s lips parted to respond, but the words stalled. Her chest heaved a little, and when her phone vibrated on the table, he couldn’t stop himself from snatching the phone before she could grab it.

“What the hell, Jax!” she hissed, grabbing for the phone but only coming up with air as he swiveled out of the way in his chair.

But when his eyes dropped to the phone, he was able to scan it just long enough to see she’d gotten a text from her mom, and the bulk of the contents read,  _ need $500. _

He froze, giving her the opening she needed to swipe her phone out of his hands. Allie was staring back at him now with fire in her dark eyes.

“You’re right. It  _ was  _ unprofessional,” she told him lowly, her gaze darting beyond him to Opie, who was watching their exchange with a frown. “I’m sorry about that. It won’t happen again.”

And then her tone turned icy, “But  _ this _ ,” she pointed to her phone, “is none of your business. It’s officially. Not.”

He rubbed a thumb across his bottom lip, momentarily disarmed by the fact that he’d actually heard her say the words,  _ you’re right  _ and  _ I’m sorry _ , in almost the sentence - to  _ him _ . And it was right on the tip of his tongue to apologize back, but Allie had already shot out of her chair and was heading for the door.

“Congratulations, guys,” Allie told them when her hand closed around the door. “I’m glad we got this one.”

She waved goodbye, using the excuse that she needed to go back to work now, and disappeared down the hallway. Jax’s eyes followed her until she was gone. His legs wanted to move, but he just couldn’t get himself to stand. Bobby and Tig were already up and out of their chairs - Tig was practically chomping at the bit to get a glimpse of at least some of the action, and Bobby rubbed his eyes, following Tig out the door, probably to make sure he didn’t get himself into too much trouble.

“Any particular reason you snapped at her like that?” Opie’s gruff voice called out to him.

Jax sucked in a deep breath and scrubbed his face with a ringed hand. “Her phone -”

“That can happen to anyone, brother,” Opie pointed out, leaning both elbows down on the conference table so he could level his president with a wary cocked eyebrow. “And if I know Allie, it will never happen again.”

“I know, I know,” Jax scrubbed his face again, glancing at the chair Allie had just left vacant. “That was her mom - asking for $500.”

“Shit,” Opie exhaled and dropped his forehead into one of his hands.

He knew he needed to tread lightly, that there was only so much information Opie might be willing to give him at this point, in light of the way he’d just treated his former step-sister. But it was worth a shot.

“How much do you know about all that? About her mom?”

Opie’s eyes dropped to the table in front of them, his shoulders hunched down, and then he glanced at the open door to the hallway, as if to make sure Allie wasn’t on her way back in.

“This stays between us?”

Jax nodded immediately. “Of course, brother.”

“I know only what I’ve heard from Jimmy over the years,” Opie sighed. “Allie has never said much, but I guess I wouldn’t really expect her to. I’m not quite sure when her mom started asking for money, but it was definitely after she was outta law school.”

That made sense. It wasn’t a shock that an addict knew well enough to wait to ask for the handout until the money was readily available. He’d seen the car Allie drove, the clothes and the shoes she wore...Allie wasn’t hurting for cash by any stretch, especially now that she had the extra income from the club.

“She comes around when she needs something, and Allie gives it to her. I’m pretty sure she’s been an addict since she first hooked up with Jimmy in the 80s - apparently, they used to throw wild parties, probably on par with the clubhouse if not worse, and coke and booze were always on the buffet, if you know what I mean.”

“Yeah,” Jax sighed heavily. “I know what you mean.”

He really did.

“They partied their way through all those knockoff movies. I’m pretty sure they stopped for a little while when Anna got pregnant with Allie, but at some point, the work dried up. I think it had more to do with the fact that Jimmy and Anna were either too hungover or strung out to do the work, but I don’t think Jimmy would ever admit he couldn’t get up if you held a gun to his head.”

Jax huffed out a laugh, but still, it was hard to see the humor in this situation.

“I don’t know how many times Anna’s been to rehab, but it’s...it’s been a lot. Sometimes Jimmy hands out the money to pay for it so Allie doesn’t have to, but most of the time -”

“She pays,” Jax finished for him.

Opie nodded tightly. “Anna was just at her house...maybe two weeks ago? And now she’s asking for more cash. That’s  _ at least _ twice in one month. And as far as I know, Anna’s never showed up at the house with a guy before now.”

“And they always meet at her house?” While Jax could understand the logic of wanting that privacy, it just wasn’t fucking safe. And definitely not anymore.

“I’m pretty sure,” Opie confirmed grimly. “Jimmy told me once that he’d banned Anna from the studio. I guess she used to show up there, asking him for money, and then when he finally got sick of paying for her blow and kicked her out of the studio for the last time, she moved in on Allie.”

Jax blew out yet another heavy sigh and rubbed a tired hand over his face. “So, basically what you’re tellin’ me is I better go apologize, huh?”

His vice president nodded tightly before clapping him on the shoulder. “Pretty much. And listen, you keep this shit up, and she just might quit on us. That would be pretty counterproductive, don’t ya think?”

Jax swallowed hard. It was one thing to tease her, to ruffle her feathers and rile her up just to see her skin flush with pink. Invading her privacy was something else, and something he shouldn’t have done. He wasn’t going to linger on the real reason why that little phone interruption during the meeting had him seeing red. And while he was firmly in the camp that it would take a hell of a lot more to get Allie to throw in the towel with the club, he also didn’t want to do anything that might tip the scales. He already one strike against him - shit, he really,  _ really  _ shouldn’t have grabbed her like that in the clubhouse - and he didn’t want this to be strike two.

He was pretty damn sure anything else was fair game, as long as it made her blush.

So he nodded to his vice president as he rose from his chair and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Alright, Ope. Alright.”

* * *

Allie stared at the mountain of paperwork on her desk for a beat, and then let her eyes casually drift back to Piper, who had taken over her chair when she left for the meeting with the club. She was grateful for the distraction, grateful someone else was in this office so she didn’t come back here and scream.

“So,” Allie told her with an easy grin, gesturing to the ever-expanding clutter. “How much per hour are you willing to take to help me sort through all this?”

Piper’s eyes widened a little. This was only her second day at the studio, but it was going well, as far as Allie could tell. Piper was even talking to her, sort of. And God knew she needed the help, and maybe even the company too.

“What do you mean?” Piper asked in a small, hesitant voice.

Allie smiled warmly. “I mean...would you like to help me out? I’d think any legal experience you can get before law school would look pretty good on your applications. What do you think?”

Piper leaned forward, her blonde curtain of hair pillowing out in front of her like a shield, and her eyes dropped shyly to the mess on Allie’s desk. Those movements were awfully familiar...painfully familiar, and Allie smiled sadly at the girl she’d used to be, the girl she’d had to set aside to confront the very adult and difficult world in front of her.

Sometimes, she’d give anything to go back to that time - when she was just a 15-year-old, like Piper, whose only problems in the world were parents who were porn stars, a step-brother prospecting for an MC, and a hopeless crush on a guy who looked right through her. Everything was so much simpler then, before she’d left for college, before her world flipped on its axis. But the scars she carried with her had built the tough exterior, the drive, the work ethic, the career, the success...it was the best kind of victory. She just wished she could say it made her happy too.

“I, um,” Piper started, and then she chewed on her bottom lip in thought. “I think that would be okay.”

“Great,” Allie grinned. “Now, let’s talk about your hourly pay. How much do you want to make?”

Allie had to bite back a grin at the way Piper’s eyes widened in surprise. If Piper really wanted to be an attorney, she was going to have to learn to negotiate sometime. Not to mention shed the shy exterior when it was time to talk business.

“How about…” she trailed off in thought, tapping her chin as she considered her options. “$20 an hour?”

Oh yeah, this was definitely a lawyer in the making. Better to start high, and then find that sweet spot somewhere in the middle. 

“Well,” Allie smiled proudly. “That’s a little high. How does $10 sound?”

There was no way Allie was actually going to pay that to her kind of, sort of niece, especially not when she’d never asked Jimmy for help before, and especially not when her need for the help was very serious and very real. She was willing to pay Piper for a job well done, but Piper also needed to learn how to advocate for herself.

Piper considered the offer, and Allie could see the wheels in her head turning. “What about $17?”

This time, Allie had to rub a hand over her lips to hide her grin. She was just about to throw out a counteroffer when a knock echoed through the door.

“Hold that thought,” Allie told Piper, and then turned her head to the door. “Yeah?”

The door cracked open, and Jax stuck his head in. His expression was a little too cautious, a little hesitant like he wasn’t sure if he was interrupting, like he didn’t  _ want  _ to interrupt her at work. Given this sudden about-face into actual considerate behavior, Allie lifted a wary eyebrow at him.

“Can I help you?”

Jax’s lips spread apart in a cocky smirk, and he didn’t wait for an invitation. He just sauntered inside her office like he owned the place, tipping his chin to Piper in a way that was definitely too flirty of a greeting toward someone who was underage. He just couldn’t help himself, could he?

“‘Sup, Piper,” he smirked at her.

Piper practically melted in her chair, not like Allie could really blame her. She knew all too well what it was like to be a stupid, horny teenager underneath the perpetually sexy blue eyes of Jackson Teller. She’d also learned the hard way that bad boys were just that -  _ bad _ .

Seeing as how Jax’s attention had rendered Piper all but speechless, Allie swooped in to answer for her, “We were just negotiating Piper’s hourly pay here at the studio.”

Jax’s eyebrows lifted in surprise, and he shot Piper an even wider grin than before. “Is that so?”

And once again, Piper withered into a puddle at Jax’s feet.

“Where did we leave off, Piper?” Allie pressed on, shaking her head with a smile. “$17?”

Jax’s gaze drifted expectantly to Piper, who was still tongue-tied in his presence, and that cocksure grin on his face only deepened.

“How about…” Allie threw out. “$13? That sound okay to you?”

Now, Piper shifted back into negotiation mode, her focus finally away from the blonde wolf standing in the middle of the office. Her head tilted to the side a little in thought, mulling over whether that was a number she could live with, and then she finally spoke.

“How about $14?”

Allie huffed out a laugh while Jax practically beamed back at Piper in a show of solidarity. 

“You know,” Allie laughed as she held out a hand to Piper, “I would’ve settled for $15, but $14 sounds good to me.”

Piper’s eyes widened as they shook hands, and Allie made a mental note to make sure Piper got that pay - had an annoying MC president not hijacked their negotiations and knocked Piper off her game, Allie was sure they would’ve made it to that $15 compromise.

“Glad you ladies got that settled,” Jax grinned, and then he tipped his chin to Piper again. “Hey, Pipes, you mind if I had a second with Allie?”

He practically pinned poor Piper to her chair with that smirk - a panty-dropping one, for sure - and Piper stuttered a little before nodding slowly, and prying herself out of her chair. Allie watched Piper shut the door behind her, and then shifted her gaze to Jax, shooting him an exasperated look.

“What?” he smiled innocently.

Allie shook her head as she stepped around her desk to drop into the chair Piper had left vacant. “Don’t  _ what _ me. You know what.”

Jax just lifted a shoulder and shoved both hands in his front pockets, rocking back on his heels a little. “What’d I do now?”

“Oh, come on,” she rolled her eyes. “It’s not very nice of you to flirt with her like that.”

His hands flew up in defense, but his lips were still curled. “What do you mean  _ flirt  _ with her?”

“She’s 15, Jax,” she reminded him, pointing a finger at him before he could respond. “And if you say that’s never stopped you before, I’m gonna reach across this desk and smack you.”

He held her gaze for a beat too long, like he was actually considering saying those words out loud now that he knew the consequence. She waited, half-expecting him to tease her for being jealous. It wasn’t true, of course - like she’d actually be jealous of a 15-year-old, and  _ someone  _ needed to save Piper from herself. But he stayed silent, his lips pulling into a knowing lop-sided grin.

“So,” Allie tried again. “What can I help you with?”

Something shifted in his eyes, and he swallowed tightly before glancing down at his hands folded in his lap. When he lifted his gaze again, his blue eyes were more somber now and more serious than they’d been before.

“I, uh…” he trailed off and then blew out a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry, Allie. I shouldn’t have…”

His voice faded again, like he was groping for words that just wouldn’t come. She supposed he was lucky she already had a pretty good idea what he was apologizing about, but the fact that he was apologizing  _ at all _ had to be difficult for him. The only other time she’d heard those words out of his cocky mouth had been when he’d manhandled her in the clubhouse. At least he was starting to realize he was acting like an overgrown baby.

But because he deserved it, she wasn’t going to let him off the hook just yet.

“What, exactly, are you sorry for?” she asked, and crossed her arms across her chest just for good measure.

He cleared his throat roughly, shifting uncomfortably in his chair, but he kept his hands folded firmly in front of him. “I shouldn’t have invaded your privacy like that. You’re right - that’s your business. It’s not mine. And I’m sure you’re gonna triple-check to make sure your phone’s on silent from here on out, so we won’t have that problem again.”

“Right,” she nodded tightly.

“And the last thing I wanna do is give you a reason to quit on me,” he frowned at that last part, and corrected himself in a rush, “on the  _ club _ . It took us long enough to get you on our side, and I don’t wanna fuck that up, okay?”

She inhaled slowly, letting herself lock eyes with him for just a moment. “Okay.”

Jax paused there, biting down on his bottom lip in thought before glancing up at her again. “So, I know we’ve established this is none of my business, and you can smack me if you want, but...when is your mom coming over?”

Allie froze, momentarily debilitated by the unexpected question. This really was none of his business, and he had no right to -

“Ope might’ve told me a few things,” Jax offered sheepishly, scratching the side of his head with a grin that looked more like a grimace than anything.

“Of course he did,” Allie grumbled. Of course he willingly gave away personal information to the one person she didn’t want to give anything personal to.

“Hey,” Jax shrugged. “Ope’s a good VP. I asked him a question, and he answered.”

Opie was just a good person in general, but Allie didn’t want to give Jax the satisfaction of agreeing with him. And she didn’t want to linger for too long on the fact that he was fishing for personal information about her from his vice president and her former step-brother.

Jax glanced down at his hands again before he spoke. “So, when’s she comin’ over?”

Allie’s lips parted to deny, deny, deny, but he cut her off before she could even begin.

“Don’t lie to me, Allie.”

One glance at Jax, at the deadly serious expression written on his handsome face, and she knew she was sunk.  _ Jesus,  _ she thought,  _ I’m no better than Piper at this point. _ That was a pretty uncomfortable comparison, at least where Jax was concerned, and it certainly didn’t help that he wasn’t going to be very happy about the truth. Unfortunately, judging by the hard look in his eyes, he also wasn’t going to let up until she gave it to him. Might as well get it over with.

“In about an hour.”

His eyebrows lifted in surprise, but he schooled his expression just as quickly, leaning forward a little in his chair. “Alright. Will your roommate be home?”

Allie started to respond that, yes, Dan would absolutely be home and they could end this conversation right now, but then she remembered he was in the middle of a shoot today. It ended...when it ended, and there was really no set time that he’d be back in the house. By the time everything wrapped up and he was actually standing in the house, it was less and less likely that it would actually be in an hour,  _ before  _ her mom showed up.

Jax nodded to himself, taking her non-response as her response. “Alright. So, I’ll follow you to your -”

“No, you’re not.”

He blew out an exasperated sigh and narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. “Ope’s busy with Lyla right now, and Piper’s gotta get home somehow, right?” he spread his arms out with a defiant grin, “I’m free right now. And we both know Ope would lose his shit if he found out you were home by yourself when she stopped over. I’m good with standin’ outside the whole time if you don’t wanna let me in your house. It’s a pretty nice day out - I wouldn’t mind the fresh air.”

Allie stared back at him.  _ This _ was not what she’d expected. And, she worried, there was really no getting out of this either. She  _ had  _ promised Opie she’d call him the next time her mom came to her house with that guy, and if she knew her mom, she was about 99 percent sure that guy would be there with her in an hour, sitting outside on the street just like last time. It would save everybody a lot of time and effort if someone was already with her when they showed up. And she didn’t know exactly what Opie had told him about her mom, but whatever it was, it was enough to convince him she needed a chaperone.

And, she realized with a heavy heart, maybe she really did need a chaperone now. Maybe she really did need to have someone there with her, just in case.

_ Just in case? _

Even in her thoughts, she knew how stupid that sounded. How willfully ignorant and risky that was. That guy could just be biding his time, waiting for the right moment to barge in and... _ so why are you still agreeing to let her come to your house?  _ That little voice in her head was right. She knew that. But she just couldn’t bring herself to say no.

And now, as her eyes found Jax again and he stared back at her with determined resolve, she wasn’t going to be able to say no to him either. Even if she did, Allie figured he’d just follow her home and sit outside her house anyway, whether she agreed to it or not. Maybe the path of least resistance was the right one this time.

“What was the point of installing those stupid cameras at my house anyway?” Allie groused sourly, determined to at least prove her point before finally giving in.

“Well,” Jax grinned back at her, a slow grin slipping across his face. “Better to be safe than sorry, right? Besides, you got lucky this time that someone could be there before her and that guy show up at your house. Next time, you might not be that lucky, and then you’ll be glad Ope forced your hand.”

_ Next time, you might not be that lucky. _ He was right. As painful as that was to admit, for a whole slew of reasons...he was right. And while the thought of having Jax even within earshot when Anna Levy did show up on her doorstep sent a tremor of panic through her, Allie knew she couldn’t tell him no even if she wanted to. At this point, she wasn’t so sure that she did.

Still, that was a victory she wasn’t willing to serve up, at least not fully.

“Fine,” Allie told him flatly, hitching a hand defiantly on her hip. “But you are  _ not  _ coming inside my house. Do you understand?”

Jax’s lips curled - his grin was too arrogant, too sensual, just...too much. But he held his hands up in defense, even though he knew he’d won this round.

“A’ight,” he drawled easily. “You just lead the way, darlin’.”   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who's read/commented/bookmarked/left kudos on this! I'm so glad this is finding an audience and that you guys are loving this as much as I am! I just finished chapter 17 yesterday, and am working on a one-shot now to show more of what they were like in high school and how they interacted - it will also show an incident they're going to be talking about in chapter 11 ;)
> 
> Thoughts on this chapter? I think we're finally starting to see Jax realize that his behavior toward Allie really isn't doing himself any favors.


	11. Chapter Eleven

The second Allie pulled her car into her garage, she immediately hit the button to close the garage door. It was bad enough Jax was currently parking his bike in her driveway. She’d already had to power through the entire drive from the studio to her house - all 15 minutes of it and including the brief detour to an ATM - with Jax right in her rearview mirror. She wasn’t about to give him the opportunity to slide in before the garage door closed.

He was getting his arrogant ass inside this house over her dead body.

Allie skidded down the hallway, haphazardly tossing her keys onto the counter in the kitchen as she sprinted over to the window at the center of her living room, the same one that gave her a perfect side view of her front porch. Jax was already stepping onto the porch, bringing an open flame to the cigarette in between his lips. He looked around as he took a drag from his cigarette, his blue eyes taking quick appraisal of the front of her house, from the hydrangeas nestled on both sides of the walkway and her ceramic planters near the front door, to the set of wicker chairs at the end of the porch.

A wave of self-consciousness rolled through her. Jax Teller was at her house. He was standing on her porch, smoking a cigarette like it was the most natural thing in the world. Was she in the Upside Down or something right now? Stepped inside some kind of alternate reality where this was a thing she allowed to happen?

She shook her head in disbelief as he meandered over to one of the wicker chairs on the porch and plopped down, flicking some ash from his cigarette and stretching his legs out leisurely. Jesus Christ, he was even rocking in the chair a little bit. At least he hadn’t bothered with the doorbell.

Allie glanced at the time on her phone and pushed out a breath. She still had about 10 minutes before her mom was supposed to show up. It was so goddamn inconvenient that Dan was filming today - that would’ve ended this. If she could’ve just said Dan was going to be here, if she could’ve just _lied_...but lying to Jax’s face wasn’t an option. That serious expression on his face was like a truth serum.

So, because she needed a distraction, she bounded up the stairs to change out of her work clothes. And she had to get the rest of the cash from her dresser anyway. After sliding into a pair of black leggings and a chunky oversized sweater, Allie gingerly slipped the bills out of her dresser drawer with a heavy heart.

Then she pulled down a little section of the blinds in her bedroom window to glance down at the front porch. Yep. He was still there. And this wasn’t all just a bad dream.

There was really no good reason why she _couldn’t_ have found Opie before she left the studio and told him what was going on. Jax didn’t have to volunteer - he could’ve just as easily sent anyone else from the club in his place with plenty of time to spare. But here they were.

He looked so out of place in that wicker chair, rocking easily with his lips wrapped around a cigarette. All he was missing was a beer and a shotgun. _Or a Glock_ , she thought ruefully.

Jax cut an imposing, intimidating figure out there. From the leather on his back, the slicked back hair, the cigarette dangling from his lips, the white T-shirt, sneakers, and baggy jeans, he looked exactly like the biker gangster he absolutely was. Anyone who started walking toward her house would take one look at him and backpedal in a hurry. They’d probably call the cops while they were at it too.

And, she realized with a heavy sigh, her mom was about to walk into that. Even if she got dropped off by that guy, she’d still have to come up the walkway and pass by Jax to get inside the house.

There was a part of her, deep down, that knew she shouldn’t care. That knew if her mom really wanted the cash that badly, she could grow a pair and walk past Jax to collect.

 _To collect_...Allie knew how bad that sounded. Knew she was just being used. Knew that the only time she heard from her mom was when she needed money. And yet, Allie couldn’t stop herself from heading back downstairs and pulling the front door open. If her mom saw Jax sitting here, as domineering and dangerous as he looked...she might take one look and run the other way. Then she wouldn’t get what she needed. Then who knew what would happen to her after that.

Allie rubbed her eyes wearily as she pulled the door open, wincing a little when Jax’s head snapped in her direction.

With a sigh, she waved him in. “Come on.”

He hesitated, blowing out a steady stream of smoke through his nostrils as he regarded her with a smirk. “Oh, I see. I’ve finally been judged and deemed worthy enough to enter your home?”

“No,” she shot back, but his grin only deepened. “So, do you wanna come in or are you gonna sit out there all day?”

He lifted a shoulder, then took his sweet time standing up, stretching his arms over his head before taking one last drag from his cigarette and tossing it to the ground. She held the door open for him, cursing herself as she did it, and he winked at her as he passed through the threshold.

Well, now Jax Teller was standing in her living room. This was _just_ great. And seeing him in her personal space like this, in the one place that was supposed to be her safe space...it was unnerving, to say the least.

His steps stalled on the wood flooring, sending her right into his leather-covered back. Allie bounced off him and shook her head at his low chuckle. Of course he was laughing at her. Why wouldn’t he be?

And then she realized why he’d stopped short - he was taking in the view, letting his eyes roam over everything he could, the leather couch, the distressed coffee table sitting in the middle of an expansive white and navy oriental rug, the art she’d spent way too much time on Etsy shopping for...he shoved his hands deep inside his front pockets as he rocked back on his heels to take it all in.

She hesitantly trailed after him as he shifted from the living room and headed for the kitchen, stalling again to continue his detailed inventory of her house. His eyebrows lifted as his gaze sifted through the details, her kitchen island, the range above her stove, the marble countertops and the farmhouse sink. Finally, Jax’s head turned to her.

“Beautiful home you got here, darlin’,” he murmured.

“Thanks.”

“I guess it better be, given what the club’s payin’ you now,” he rocked back on his heels again with his hands in his pockets. He shot her a bemused smirk, and she felt herself waffle between hating him a little bit for throwing that in her face and hating herself even more for the way his words affected her.

“Hmm mm,” she allowed instead, carefully sidestepping around him to make her way to the fridge. “You want anything to drink? I think Dan’s got some beer in here, but I’m pretty sure they’re IPAs or something like that though.”

Allie kept her eyes on Jax, challenging him to scoff at even the suggestion that he would deign to drink an IPA instead of his usual Budweiser swill. He met that challenge with a cocked eyebrow and a shrug of his shoulders.

“Sounds good to me,” he grinned easily. He wordlessly took the beer from her outstretched hand and took a swig without once breaking eye contact with her.

Jax swallowed it down, glancing down at the bottle’s label and shrugged. “Not bad.”

She busied herself by grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge when his voice called out to her again.

“Hey, can I ask you a question?”

Her heart clenched and stuttered in her chest. Allie was almost surprised he hadn’t asked her sooner. At least she had a good supply of stock answers in case he pressed the issue. So, she turned back to face him, her eyebrows lifting expectantly.

“Why don’t you drink?”

She’d been expecting it. This wasn’t the first time someone had asked her this question, and it definitely wouldn’t be the last. But still, every time she heard it, she couldn’t stop the panic that rolled through her. She would’ve thought she would’ve gotten a handle on that by now. Nope. There it was.

But she pushed it down, smothering it as best as she could, so she could reply with a nonchalant shrug, “I just don’t like it.”

Jax eyed her carefully and took another long pull for his beer as he considered her response. By now, it was clear he didn’t fully buy it, but maybe she’d get lucky and he wouldn’t push.

“Alright,” he allowed slowly.

Then a car door slammed from somewhere outside the house, and Jax was on high alert, setting his beer bottle on the counter, and heading to the window in her living room with long, purposeful strides. He glanced over his shoulder only once to make sure she was right behind him.

That same tan sedan she’d seen on the street two weeks ago was back. And her mom was sliding out of the passenger door.

“That the same guy, Allie?” Jax asked her over his shoulder.

She moved a little bit closer, acutely aware that they were now standing shoulder to shoulder at the window, and smothered that down too. Now that she was closer, she was able to get a better look at the guy.

“I think so,” Allie told him quietly. “That’s definitely the same car though.”

He nodded tightly, and they watched her mom walk around the sedan and start up the walkway, eyeing Jax’s bike in the driveway nervously with every step. She hurried to the front porch just in time for Allie to swing open the door to let her in.

“Hi, Mom,” Allie greeted her a little breathlessly.

Anna smiled stiffly and that smile froze on her face when she saw Jax hovering over Allie’s shoulder.

“Come on in, Mom,” Allie tried again, moving aside a little to make space for her mom to step inside the house. Jax followed suit, mirroring her movements but he stayed directly at her back so he could keep his eyes focused on her mom.

Anna stepped inside but not before casting another nervous glance at Jax. “And who’s this, honey?” she gestured to him with an anxious laugh, “I didn’t realize you were seeing somebody. Is he your boyfriend?”

“Oh no,” Allie laughed, batting a hand in the air.

Then she felt Jax’s warm breath on her ear, and God help her, she shivered a little.

“Could you have said that _any_ faster?” he muttered to her.

Allie shot him an exasperated glance over her shoulder as she followed her mom deeper into the house. She heard Jax huff behind her, but she chose to ignore him, settling her focus instead on Anna, who had dropped down into her usual barstool at the kitchen island. This was like an out of body experience - while this visit was mostly routine so far, albeit tense, the main outlier here was Jax. With him trailing right on her heels, Allie was aware of everything around her. The awkwardness of these visits. The clinical routine of niceties and small talk. The transactional nature of Anna’s presence in her kitchen.

It was a transaction, wasn’t it? Except Allie didn’t really get anything in return, other than the knowledge Anna was alive for another day with cash and food in hand.

And there was something about the fact that Jax was standing here too, a silent, seething witness to it all, that just made everything worse. She could feel the tension rolling off him in waves behind her, feel the animosity and the suspicion and the resentment radiating right off the leather.

“So, um,” Anna started, her voice trembling a little as her gaze slid from Allie to Jax, and back to Allie again. “How do you two know each other then?”

Allie pressed a tight smile to her lips, acutely aware that Jax had stealthily stepped around the side of the island to stand about a foot away from her. He rested both hands on top of the counter and kept his expressionless gaze fixed squarely on her mom, pinning her into the barstool where she sat.

“Do you remember Opie?” Allie answered quickly. “Mary’s son?”

Darkness flashed across Anna’s face at the mention of Jimmy’s second wife, but it was gone just as quickly. She plastered a fake smile on her face and nodded. “Sure.”

“Opie and Jax,” she gestured to him as she spoke, but he didn’t budge an inch, “are members of Samcro. That’s -”

“I know what it is,” Anna nodded shakily, her voice catching a little on that last syllable.

Out of the corner of her eye, Allie saw Jax’s eyes narrow into blue shards of ice.

“Anyway,” Allie pressed on. “I’m working for the club now. That’s how we know each other.”

“Okay,” Anna nodded immediately, but her eyes still darted between the two of them anxiously. “But why is he here right now?”

She could’ve sworn she heard Jax growl under his breath. He lifted his fists from the counter and folded his arms across his chest, leveling Anna with a hard stare. Then he jerked his head toward the front door.

“Why is _he_ here right now?” Jax pushed out roughly, his voice low and dangerous.

Anna tore her eyes away from Jax, shifting to Allie in nervous agitation, and Allie had to swallow back the lump in her throat. Her mom looked so small standing across from her now, so frail, so fragile.

“What is this, Allie?” Anna’s voice shook as she spoke. “What’s going on?”

Allie sucked in a breath, hurriedly moving to her purse to get this over with. She grabbed the bills and thrust them out to her mom, who stared at her outstretched hand for a moment. Something shifted in the air between them then. Allie could sense Jax’s eyes on them, feel his eyes dropping to their hands when Anna snatched up the money. Her hands shook, and her heart somersaulted into her stomach.

Humiliation ripped through her. Shame slid down her spine and curled around her stomach. Panic closed around her throat. Tears burned her eyes and her chest heaved from the impact.

And when she dragged her eyes back to her mom, she found Anna staring back at her restlessly, wildly, with new agitation flickering across her face and a little bit of irritation too. But no gratitude. No humility. Not even a whisper of self-awareness.

If Jax hadn’t been standing next to her, the tears would’ve already been falling.

“Thanks, honey,” Anna murmured. “I really appreciate it.”

Allie swallowed back the lump in her throat. She dared a glance at Jax, who was staring darkly at Anna. When he felt her eyes on him, his gaze darted to her, softening for just a moment before pinning Anna with yet another glare.

On reflex, Allie moved to the fridge and started to pull out a few things until Anna’s trembling voice stopped her.

“Oh no, that’s okay, honey. I should probably get going.”

Frowning, Allie shifted on her heel to face again, a water bottle, an apple, and some string cheese in her hands. “Mom, just -”

“No,” Anna shook her head furiously, backpedalling away from the kitchen island as she spoke, most likely to put more distance between herself and Jax, who cut an imposing figure with his back tense and his arms folded tightly across his chest. “That’s okay. I really should get going. I’ll see you later, okay? Love you, honey.”

Allie reared back like she’d been slapped. Anna _never_ said those words to her. It didn’t matter how often they saw each other - or didn’t see each other - or how much she’d asked for that time or how much food Allie sent with her before she left. The only reason she was doing it now was because they had an audience.

She didn’t really mean it.

And just the impact of that, of even _thinking_ it...her bottom lip quivered helplessly. So, she shoved the food and water in her hands at her mom, willing her to just fucking take them already.

“Please, Mom…” Allie trailed off, horrified by the sound of her own voice. “Just...just take it.”

Anna hesitated. She stared at the food in Allie’s outstretched hands for a beat, as if deciding how much further she really wanted to push this charade, and then she snatched the food just as quickly as she’d scooped up the money. Anna smiled tightly to say goodbye before whirling around on her heel, practically sprinting to the front door.

Allie sucked in a harsh breath when she felt Jax’s hand ghost over the small of her back. Despite her better judgment, she swallowed hard and turned her head to find him watching her with careful concern as he stepped around her to follow Anna to the front door. Allie couldn’t help but trail after him, and when he followed Anna right through the door, her first instinct was to call him back, but the words died in her throat.

He trailed after Anna on the walkway with a casual stride, his hands leisurely pushed inside his front pockets. But when Anna looked over her shoulder to find Jax right on her heels, whatever she found on his face had her skittering to the passenger side door of that sedan as fast as her feet could carry her. Once Anna was safely in the car, the driver revved the engine, his head turned to engage in some kind of staring contest and probably just long enough to get a good look at the _president_ patch on the front of Jax’s Reaper cut.

Jax didn’t stop walking until he reached the sidewalk, each step taking on a more aggressive gait. His hands stayed in his pockets, but his back was stiff straight and his shoulders were squared right at the car. Even as the car sped away from the side of the road, Jax held his ground. He stood there as the car disappeared, staring after it as if he wanted to make sure the driver knew he was still there, watching and waiting in case he decided to come back.

Allie kept it together long enough to see Jax put a cigarette to his lips, and that was about all she could take. She backpedalled through the living room, blinded by her tears, and didn’t stop until her back hit the bathroom door in the hallway. Fumbling with the knob behind her back, she burst inside and furiously shut the door behind her, making sure to hit the lock before sinking down onto the toilet seat with her head in her hands.

Her shoulders shook with sobs, and she had to slap a hand over her mouth to muffle the sounds. That had to be the front door closing - he hadn’t left. He’d come back inside the house. And she couldn’t stop crying.

The humiliation sliced through her body and racked it with tears. The _shame_...it wouldn’t let go. Those pangs of disgust and shots of disappointment...they wouldn’t let up. It just all _hurt_ so fucking much. And she just couldn’t stop crying.

“Allie?” Jax’s voice called out from somewhere in the hallway.

She squeezed her eyes shut, sending another wave of tears down her cheeks, and she wiped them away furiously, desperate to put herself back together again. And then she sniffled and gave herself away.

A light knock rapped on the bathroom door, and she covered her face with trembling hands.

“Allie?”

He just knocked again when she didn’t respond. Trying to stop crying just made her cry even harder - how was that possible? Covering her mouth to stifle this open weeping wasn’t really helping. He was onto her. And she had a feeling he wasn’t leaving either.

“Allie, I know you’re in there.”

She squeezed her eyes shut again, blowing out a deep breath. “Go away.”

Jax’s smooth laugh echoed through the door. “You have to come out sometime. I’m just gonna keep knockin’ until you do.”

And without missing a beat, he started knocking lightly on the door again. Then it got louder and louder and faster and faster until all she could hear, all she could focus on was his fist smacking against the door.

Ugh. If he wanted to wear her down to the point where she couldn’t take it anymore...he was winning.

Finally, she wiped her eyes for the last time, blew her nose, and then furiously whipped the door open to find Jax mid-knock a foot away from her. His lips broke apart in a victory smirk, but the second he got a good look at her face, his smile disappeared, his shoulders drooped, and his raised fist fell to his side.

Allie just stared back at him with her chest heaving. She didn’t have the energy to do anything else at this point. But it was his eyes that really knocked her off-balance - the concern swimming in them, the empathy radiating up from the depths of his ocean blue eyes.

And when he rested a hesitant hand on her shoulder, she didn’t step back. He squeezed her shoulder and in that moment, all she could think about was how warm his hand felt and the little tingle his touch sent vibrating from where his hand rested all the way down to her stomach. And when he gingerly pulled her in closer, until her cheek touched the smooth leather on his chest, she didn’t fight it. She let herself lean in, inhaling the scent of gasoline and musk, losing herself in the way the arm around her shoulders pulled her in even tighter against his chest, the way his other arm slipped around her waist and squeezed.

She closed her eyes and just breathed him in.

* * *

Jax rocked back on his heels, glancing up at the stairs again. Worry nagged at him and he chewed on his bottom lip anxiously. She’d been up there for about ten minutes already, saying something about needing to wash her face. Part of him thought maybe she was hoping he’d just take the hint and leave before she came back downstairs.

He wasn’t leaving. At least not until her roommate got home.

Maybe she already knew that and was stalling because she was too emotionally drained to fight with him about it and just wanted to be left alone. He got that. He’d probably feel the same if their roles were reversed. But he still wasn’t leaving.

Someone needed to stay with her in case that asshole in the sedan decided to come back tonight. Someone needed to hang around until her roommate came home just in case. Someone needed to make sure she was okay. He was already here. He had nothing better to do anyway. That was the story he was going with.

He was about ready to start pacing when she materialized at the top of the stairs. With her phone in her hand, she refused to make any eye contact with him. He could live with that. He’d even be fine if they just sat in her house in silence for the rest of the night. He just wasn’t leaving.

“Well,” she called out to him from the stairs, her voice still a little hoarse from crying. “Dan just texted - he said he’s not going to be home for about two hours or so. I guess they had some kind of difficulty with the equipment, but I can never really tell what kind of _equipment_ he’s talking about, you know?”

Jax shoved his hands in his front pockets and huffed out a laugh. He let a smile slide across his face because he just didn’t know what else to do.

Allie blew out a deep breath as she stopped about two feet away from him. “I’m guessing you’re planning to stay until he gets home?”

He shot her a grin. “Yep.”

“Alright, fine,” she sighed and tucked a stray strand of hair behind an ear. “Whatever. You hungry?”

He rocked back on his heels again as he considered, and a slow smirk crept across his face. “I could eat.”

Allie just lifted her eyes to the ceiling, pushing out an exasperated huff. “There are a few good delivery places we could order from. I don’t cook. And I’m not gonna start for you.”

His hands shot up in defense and his shoulders shook with laughter. “Heaven forbid I should ask you to cook for me, darlin’. My stomach’s pretty strong, but I don’t think I could survive all the arsenic you’d dump into it.”

“That’s true,” she nodded with a knowing grin, and then she tapped her chin in thought. “But, there was this woman not that long ago who slowly poisoned her husband by putting eyedrops in his coffee every morning. There are all _kinds_ of ways to murder someone.”

“Yeah,” he smiled softly. “I know.”

The problem was - he really did know. The club had left a long trail of bodies in its wake, and he was just as guilty as the next brother. That was behind them now, he told himself firmly. Except for one...the club got one more body, one more act of retribution, and then they were done.

If she sensed the shift, she didn’t show it. Instead, she walked back into her kitchen and rummaged through a drawer before pulling out a few brightly colored takeout menus. About 45 minutes later, he was resting comfortably in one of the chairs on Allie’s back patio after eating his fill of delivery tacos and guacamole. She was seated a few feet away from him in her own chair, her empty food carton sitting out on the end table next to her, with her knees pulled into her chest.

It wasn’t cold. That was more a defense mechanism than anything else. A protective measure to hide as much of herself from him as she could. He got that too.

He took a long pull of another one of Dan’s IPAs and decided to light a cigarette. “So, you can’t cook or you just choose not to?”

“I can cook,” Allie informed him with a wary side-eye. “I guess I wouldn’t mind doing it from time to time. I just don’t really have the time or the energy anymore. Dan does all the cooking and I order all the groceries online and have them delivered. It works out perfectly.”

Jax laughed heartily as she just shrugged.

“I’m an _excellent_ online shopper,” she explained with an easy grin.

“I don’t doubt that,” he laughed.

She rested her chin on top of her knees, drawing them in even closer against her chest before narrowing her eyes a little. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well,” he huffed out a laugh, dropping a hand down to gesture toward her. “I’ve never seen you in anything that wasn’t designer or in the same outfit twice. Although you wear those leather boot things a lot. And let’s be honest, darlin’, those clothes have to come from somewhere and I’m guessing if you don’t have time to cook, you probably don’t have time to shop inside a store either.”

Allie studied him carefully, as if she was dissecting every word he’d just said. And the more he played it all back in his head, the more he realized exactly what it sounded like. He _did_ pay attention to what she wore - more specifically how much or how little skin she showed - but she didn’t need to know that. She also didn’t need to know he was practically chomping at the bit to find out what skirt she was going to be wearing the next time he saw her in a professional setting. Although, he had to admit, the tight leggings were a nice change of pace. He just wished that sweater didn’t cover up all the parts he wanted to see.

At this point, he was in dire need of a subject change. And luckily enough for him, she seemed to sense that and swooped in.

“I know I haven’t been in the clubhouse all that much, but I don’t remember seeing any girls there in designer clothes.”

Alright. So maybe this wasn’t a _complete_ subject change, but he’d take whatever he could get.

“Well,” he blew out a long trail of smoke with a laugh. “I guess that’s the thing about those girls, huh? They’ve got one uniform - tight, low-cut, short, and cheap. And when that’s shoved in your face everyday, it’s pretty easy to spot the opposite from a mile away.”

Her eyes still hadn’t left him. “Huh.”

“I mean,” Jax flicked some ash from his cigarette as he spoke. “It’s pretty much been that way since high school. Although, come to think of it, you didn’t wear many designer skirts back then.”

At this point, he was past the point of no return with this conversation. Might as well dig in and get those pretty cheeks to flush pink. He’d take that over her tears any day of the week.

Allie’s lips parted to respond, but then they just pulled apart in a frown. He could see the wheels in that smart brain turning, sifting through those years and brushing off the dust. She grimaced a little, like those memories weren’t particularly fond ones, and he guessed he couldn’t really blame her for that either.

“You know, I take that back,” he wagged a ringed finger at her. “There was that one time right before the Homecoming bonfire senior year.”

“ _You_ didn’t go to that bonfire,” she laughed, but the slight accusation in her voice wasn’t lost on him. “You wouldn’t have been caught dead at any school function if you could help it. No way you were at that bonfire.”

And right here was where this conversation should end. She didn’t remember seeing him there, so it was just any other night in high school to her. So long ago she probably had no idea what really happened that night. But for some reason, he just couldn’t help himself. Maybe, deep down, there was some part of him, somewhere, that had always wanted to see how much she knew. That just wanted her to _know_.

“Well, darlin’, see that’s where you’re wrong,” he smirked at the memory. “I went that _one_ time. I was promised beer and weed, and it delivered in spades,” he was also promised a few other things from a few nameless girls that he wasn’t going to get into. “In fact, I sorta remember seein’ you there with a beer in your hand at one point.”

He let that sit there to see if she’d take the bait, but when she stiffened at the memory, he decided not to push it. Whatever her hangups were with alcohol, he figured that was none of his business - he’d already gotten himself into enough trouble the way it was.

“If I remember right, you were there for a little while and then you and your skirt hightailed it outta there,” he grinned at her.

Her cheeks flushed a little, and that grin on his face widened. There - he’d gotten what he’d wanted, right? He’d made her blush, and flustered her just enough for tonight. But then Allie tilted her head to the side in thought, piecing together the night they obviously had very different memories of. For her, maybe the senior bonfire was something you remembered for a year or two and then it was just a blip on the radar. For him, the memory was a little more vivid.

“Didn’t you…” she threw out hesitantly, her face scrunching up a little as she sorted through the events of that night and the consequences that had followed him. “You were suspended for like, a _week_ after that, weren’t you?”

“Yep.”

“Oh, that’s right! You got into that fight with Jared what’s-his-face,” she frowned. “What was his name again? I’m completely drawing a blank.”

Because he was so inconsequential she didn’t even remember his last name. Because that night happened almost 15 years ago. Because it had just been one night, in high school, years ago when she’d been out with her friends and went to a bonfire. She probably wouldn’t recognize the guy now if she saw him on the street.

“Jared Monroe,” Jax finished for her with a tight smile. He wrapped his lips around his cigarette, needing another hit of nicotine at the memory, and took a long, healthy drag.

Her eyes pinched in thought and she wrapped her arms around her knees more tightly now. “That’s right. You got in a fight with him.”

“I pummeled that punkass bitch into the ground.”

She laughed at that, and while he might’ve been laughing with her, he still didn’t really see anything funny about it, even 15 years later.

“I don’t remember that,” Allie started slowly, her mind still turning and turning. “Well, I mean, I don’t remember _seeing_ that. I’d definitely remember if I’d seen it.”

“Yeah, you’d left by then.”

She eyed him carefully, almost as if she was slowly piecing together what exactly had happened that night. That wasn’t the first time he’d gotten into a fight and it wasn’t the last - there were too many to keep track of, so he figured she’d probably heard about the fight, and the suspension that followed, and never thought about it again. The only reason he’d gotten mostly punished by the school - and not the cops - was because he’d been lucky they were both still 17 at the time. He’d gotten away with a misdemeanor, an underage drinking fine, and some community service, and he’d taken that and the week-long suspension gladly.

He really needed to just shut up and move on. Nothing more really needed to be said. He’d made his point about her wearing a skirt in high school. He’d gotten the reaction he’d been looking for when her cheeks flushed a little at the knowledge that he’d not only been aware of it back then, but still remembered. Opie had obviously shielded her as best he could from what had started that fight.

But there was still a masochistic part of him that wanted to push a little more.

“Why did you get in a fight with him?”

And there it was. And his answer was the same line he’d given anyone who’d ever asked.

“I was wasted. He was runnin’ his mouth,” Jax shrugged, flicking some ash from his cigarette. “So I shut him up.”

She frowned again, and he wondered if she was combing through the foggy details of what she’d heard about that night and what she might’ve been told. He’d never known for sure because Ope had been adamant about keeping her shoved in the dark as deep as humanly possible. And when realization sparked in her dark eyes, Jax could tell she’d at least known _something_.

“Wasn’t he - he was saying something about me that night. I remember hearing that, and I didn’t really think about it too much because people were always saying something about me...” she trailed off, her head turning to face him. They locked eyes long enough for her to see whatever confirmation she’d been looking for, and he nodded with a grim smile.

“Like I said,” he shrugged again. “I was wasted. I was lookin’ for an excuse to fight and he gave me one.”

Not long after Allie and a couple of her friends left the bonfire, Jax had already been nursing his ninth or tenth beer - he wasn’t really sure how many he’d had at that point, but it had been plenty. He’d been standing in a small circle near the fire with Opie, who was too wrapped up in Donna to be aware of his surroundings, and a couple of other girls whose names he’d forgotten the next day. Jared Monroe and his asshole jock friends were messing around within earshot, and though he’d been drunk, he’d heard Monroe clear as day: _How much do ya think it would cost me to get Allie Levy tied up, spread-eagle, ass up, and face down in a bed? $100? $200? Do ya think she’d charge me extra for handcuffs? I wonder if she’d let me come on those little tits too. I bet she’d let me film it for free. She’d end up with a cut from it eventually, right?_

Opie had heard it too, but Jax moved first. And Jax was faster.

“I didn’t…” she started again, frowning as she shifted her chin on her knees, her eyes rooted to the ground. “I didn’t know that.”

He just lifted a shoulder and wrapped his lips around his cigarette again to take a long pull.

“So basically what you’re telling me is - you pummeled Jared Monroe’s punkass into the ground at the bonfire senior year and got suspended because he was running his mouth...about me...and I’m just hearing this now, how many years later,” Allie’s head shifted on her knees to face him, but he kept his eyes firmly locked in front of him. “You know...you’re actually a decent guy, aren’t you?’

He huffed out a laugh, his lips twisting to hide the bitterness from sweeping across his face. “First I’m a half-way decent guy. And now I’m actually a decent guy. Glad to see I’m movin’ up in the world.”

She blew out a long breath and swallowed tightly. “Well, I guess I should be thanking you, shouldn’t I?”

Jax batted a hand in the air to abate the weird tension permeating the air. He wished he could say Jared Monroe running his mouth was the first time he’d heard someone at school say that kind of shit about her, but honestly, he’d heard it nearly everyday at school for four years. Someone always seemed to be whispering about her, wondering about her and how much of a role she played in the family business. And he’d rather gouge his eyes out than repeat what that fucker said. Even now, Jax could still hear his smug, drunken voice and the way his asshole friends laughed and egged him on.

For some reason, maybe it was because he was drunk, maybe it was because he was sick of hearing it and not doing anything about it, maybe it was because she’d been at that fucking bonfire for almost two hours and had barely looked his way, but for some reason, Jared Monroe running his mouth was the last straw, and he’d snapped. He’d all but blacked out as he slammed his fist into Monroe’s face over and over again until Opie pulled him away...not unlike the moment he’d heard what Georgie Caruso said to her last week in her office.

She didn’t deserve that. And he really needed to get a handle on himself.

“And I guess I should be thanking you for today too,” she told him softly. “So...thank you.”

He swallowed tightly and shifted in his seat a little, clearing his throat, “Ah, it was just an excuse to snoop around your house, darlin’. Besides, you helped me out with Gemma. Now we’re square.”

“Right,” she smiled gently before dragging her eyes out to the orange and blue streaked sky ahead of them. “You must think I’m pretty stupid, huh?”

Jax blew out a stream of smoke, kicking his feet out in front of him. “You’re not stupid, Allie. You’re her daughter. Those two things don’t have to be mutually exclusive.”

“Still…” her voice shook a little as she spoke, and she hitched her chin firmly on top of her knees again, hugging her knees close to her chest. “I should be smarter than that. I _know_ I should be smarter than that. I just can’t...you know the only reason I let you in the house today was because I didn’t want you to scare her off?”

Yeah, well, a lot of good that did. It sure as shit would’ve saved them some time - and her $500 - if she’d let him sit there on her front porch in that rocking chair, staring her mom down on the sidewalk until she turned and ran the other way.

“Who does that? I mean, who lets their junkie mom into their house whenever she texts and hands over money without a second thought?”

He hesitated, not sure if that was a question she really wanted him to answer. He figured it was better to be silent than sorry.

Allie sighed again, adjusting her chin against her knee and squeezed her eyes shut. Something shifted in the air, and he turned on reflex, just in time to see her wipe a stray tear from her eye.

“I’m sorry,” she laughed humorlessly and slipped a finger underneath her eye to wipe another tear. “You’re the _last_ person I’d ever wanna cry in front of.”

He huffed out a laugh, grinning at her as he blew out another trail of smoke. “Should I be offended by that, darlin’?”

“Yes,” Allie confirmed with a half-hearted smile. “100 percent.”

Jax laughed again, and he was still smiling as he rubbed a thumb across his bottom lip in thought. He smashed his spent cherry into the food carton next to him and then reached inside his cut for his cigarette pack. Even as he brought another cigarette to his lips, he knew he was smoking too much today - probably too much in front of her too. This was her house and he was filling her back yard with cigarette buds and smoke. But his nerves needed it, so he brought his lighter up to his mouth, lit another one, and inhaled deeply.

“You know,” he told her with a sigh as he tossed his cigarettes and lighter back inside his cut. “This is probably gonna come as a shock to you, but I was drunk off my ass when Wendy and me got married a couple years ago.”

He waited for her to laugh, but instead her lips just curled up softly, the side of her cheek pressed up against her knees as she listened.

“That was the only way I could get myself to go through with it,” Jax explained with a sad smile. “I think I’d just convinced myself that if I didn’t, even though I really didn’t want to...I figured, if I didn’t, she’d go over the edge. She’d lose it and fall off the deep end again, and then, right before the wedding, she’d been trying so hard to be better. I figured, I should try too, right?”

Jesus, even saying those words out loud...to _her_ , of all people, he sounded like such a fucking asshole. And the more time that passed, the more he thanked his lucky stars it was over.

“About three weeks later,” he pushed on. “I found her with a needle in her arm anyway. Got her ass into rehab. There was lots and lots of crying, lots of begging and pleading, and then I agreed to let her back in the house when she got out of rehab,” Jax paused, his voice catching a little at the memory. “That happened two more times before I went inside Stockton. It just felt like a waiting game, you know? Every day, I was sitting there wonderin’ when the other shoe was gonna drop, when I’d do or say somethin’ that would set her off and send her runnin’ to her dealer again. And sometimes, I think it probably really was my fault. I think I might’ve been pushin’ Wendy’s buttons on purpose, just so I’d have an excuse to finally kick her out for good. And then, right before I’d be about to pull the trigger, the guilt just...wouldn’t let me do it.”

There’d been plenty of times when he’d been so pissed, so completely _done_ with all the bullshit, it was all he could do to keep himself from literally throwing all her shit out on the street. But she was always able to reel him back in.

“They always know how to take advantage of that guilt,” Allie offered quietly. “Don’t they?”

He nodded tightly, flicking some ash from his cigarette so he didn’t have to meet her in the eye. “And I guess it’s on us if we let them take advantage or if we don’t.”

Allie inhaled sharply, but kept her chin firmly planted on top of her knees. She was listening though - that he could see.

“I mean, you…” he trailed off in thought, taking another pull from his cigarette to give himself some time to find the right words. “I married someone just because I didn’t want her to relapse. _That_ was fuckin’ stupid.”

She huffed out a laugh, and he turned his head to find her watching him with a sad smile playing on her lips.

“And that was me lettin’ her take advantage.”

There was some finality and some relief in his voice now that he hadn’t recognized before. He never would’ve admitted that - to anyone - a few weeks ago. Maybe not even a week ago. But he’d finally figured out how to set aside his guilt and do the _actual_ right thing, and it felt good. Real good.

Allie sighed heavily, and when her voice drifted over to him, it sounded smaller. “She usually asks me if she can spend the night whenever she comes by. I think the only reason she didn’t this time was because you were there.”

He nodded tightly. Yeah, that sounded about right.

“I gave in once, about a year ago,” she pushed on, keeping her eyes locked on her knees. “She’d just gotten evicted, or so she said, and had nowhere else to go. I couldn’t tell her no. Didn’t want to see her have to stay in a shelter or in some park somewhere when I had a couch she could use until she got back on her feet. It was just supposed to be for a week.”

She hesitated long enough to run her index finger underneath her eye, and then rested her cheek against her hand, her eyes lingering on a spot just beyond where his feet were kicked out on her patio.

“It turned into three months.”

Jax nodded grimly and shot her a reassuring grin to keep her talking.

“And every day, I’d come home from work and I’d hope that would be the day she’d tell me she found a place, and she was leaving, and she was gonna be okay, and it just didn’t happen. She was just parked on my couch and was either watching TV or sleeping,” her voice hitched and she cleared her throat quickly, “That’s all she did. I mean, why would she ever leave, right? And then one day, I came home and she was having sex with this guy on my couch. There was...white powder all over my coffee table and on the floor. Empty bottles and trash everywhere. She knew what time I usually came home, too. I think she just didn’t care.”

He blew out a long, heavy breath. That was fucking rough. He’d been witness to a lot of shit over the years with Wendy, seen her passed out in her own vomit, seen her trash their living room in a fit of tweaked-out rage, seen her nearly OD more than a handful of times. That had been the scariest...seeing her eyes roll back in her head, the foam spewing from her mouth, that would haunt him for years. But still, he couldn’t say he’d ever seen _that_.

“I called my dad right away,” Allie went on, still staring blankly at that spot beyond his feet. “He came over and screamed at her. She screamed at him. The guy she was with walked around naked the whole time and asked me if I wanted a turn right in front of my dad. Then my dad got into a fist fight with that guy in the middle of my living room until my mom got in between them and stopped it. Needless to say, I threw out the coffee table and burned the couch.”

He huffed out a laugh and shook his head at her with a grin. He flicked some more ash from his cigarette, rubbing his mouth with a hand as he let his gaze find her again. Where the hell had this girl come from? Even in high school, she’d always been like this - self-assured and confident. Normal. Smart as hell. She hadn’t needed him to fight any battles for her then and she didn’t need it now. And despite having parents who worked in porn, a junkie for a mom, and rumors about that trailing after her everywhere she went, she’d come out the other side unscathed and with her sense of humor intact.

 _Well, maybe not completely unscathed,_ he thought with a heavy heart.

“So what happened after that?”

She just lifted a shoulder. “My dad kicked her out. Threw some money at her to keep her away for a while. Then he had my house cleaned and Dan moved in a few days later. He made me promise them both that I’d never let anything like that happen again. And it hasn’t. And it shouldn’t, right? I’m an adult woman with an education and a career and a house and money. I should know _better_.”

“I think that just makes you human, Allie.”

She sucked in a deep breath before turning her head to give him a weak smile. “You wanna know the worst part?”

His heart twisted a little in his chest and he swallowed hard at the sight of her amber-colored eyes swimming with unshed tears. “What’s that?”

“The next time she came over to my house for money, she asked if she could spend the night like none of that had even happened. Like she’d expected me to just forget. Maybe _she_ forgot. I don’t know. It’s hard to tell with her sometimes - if she’s actually being honest, or just telling me what she thinks I wanna hear.”

“Yeah,” he nodded tightly. “I know what you mean. I lost count how many times Wendy told me she was gonna be working more hours at the bar to help out with bills and shit more - sometimes, I believed her, and other times, I think she was just tellin’ me that so I wouldn’t wonder where she was or what she was doing. If I thought she was at work, then everything was fine, right? And then, of course, I dropped by the bar one time when she said she was workin’ to see if she’d told me the truth, and - big surprise - she wasn’t there.”

Even the memory of _that_ , of how he’d screamed in her face the next time he saw her, when he’d found her in some dive bar, drunk and high off her ass, he couldn’t really blame Wendy for falling into old habits around him over and over again. Screaming at her only made her feel desperate, and desperate people did desperate shit.

“We’re all just hanging by a thread anyway, right?” he went on. “The only thing we can really control is ourselves and how much shit we’re willing to put ourselves through.”

She just stared off into the distance, still as a statue in the chair next to him. He had a couple of questions to ask her now - he wasn’t going to enjoy them, but this was important.

“You keep a lot of cash in the house, Allie?”

Her head snapped back to face him with a frown. “What? Oh...a little, in one of my dresser drawers in my bedroom, but it’s not much.”

He nodded slowly. “Take it out of your bedroom,” a lump lodged in his throat at the way her eyes widened, “Don’t keep it there. Put it in some drawer in your kitchen. Make sure there’s a knife in that drawer too. Or a scissors. Maybe some pepper spray. Somethin’ like that.”

Even then, that might not be enough, but it was better than nothing. And if she kept cash in a drawer in her bedroom and hadn’t had any type of security system installed in the house up until a couple weeks ago, he figured he already knew the answer to his second question and moved on to the third.

“You want a gun to keep at the house?”

Her chest was heaving now, her lips parted and her eyebrows knitted together in a tight, panicked frown.

“We can get you one, if you want,” he explained gently. “Ope can show you how to use it.”

Allie swallowed hard and shook her head. “No, I...I don’t think I’m comfortable with that.”

He nodded, his heart twisting a little bit more at the fear and the realization clouding her eyes. With a heavy sigh, he took another long drag from his cigarette, needing something to calm him down long enough so he could tell her everything he needed to say. “Look, I’m not tryin’ to scare you. I’m really not. And while I’d like to believe me being here today scared your mom and that guy off, I think we both know that even if that is the case, and she disappears for a little while, she’ll be back and she’s gonna bring that guy back with her too. And if it’s not him, it’ll be some other guy, some other time.”

Allie ran both hands over her face before letting them rest protectively around her cheeks as he pushed on.

“Now, I’d _like_ to keep someone from the club around when Dan’s not here, just in case, but somethin’ tells me you wouldn’t be very receptive to that.”

She turned to him now with a weak smile curving her mouth, and her skin seemed to glow in the twilight. Just the base of her neck, the edge of her collarbone, just the little parts he could see, he had half a mind to reach out and touch them.

Which, given the nature of this conversation, would be completely and totally out of line.

“And,” Jax went on. “I know this is probably way outside the boundaries of our client-lawyer relationship here, but I’m just gonna come out and say it because I don’t know how else to do it...I know you love your mom. I can see that, okay? I know you don’t wanna see anything bad happen to her and I know you’re worried about what would happen if she doesn’t get the money she’s askin’ you for,” he pushed out a rough breath as he spoke, “but at a certain point, you have to start worrying about yourself too. Because _she’s_ not. If she was, she wouldn’t be pullin’ this shit, fuckin’ some guy in your house when you’re not home, bringin’ another one around for no good reason, and only showin’ up when she needs somethin’ from you.”

He paused there, letting her sit with that for as long as she needed. When he saw her take a breath and nod her head ever so slightly, he took that as his signal to keep going.

“Wendy would always tell me how much she loved me, how much she needed me,” he shook his head, swallowing back that nagging guilt that always seemed to creep up when he thought of her. “She didn’t really mean it, you know? Maybe she thought she did. I think, by the end, she’d convinced herself she loved me and that we’d figure out a way to make it work and that was the excuse to keep reeling me back in, to keep throwing it in my face that she was barely hanging onto sobriety. She loved me, so it was all okay for us to keep shittin’ on each other like that. I guess the real problem was that I didn’t love _her_ , but that’s not my point. I heard your mom say that to you too, and I saw the way you reacted to it. She didn’t really mean it, at least not while she’s still using and not while she’s still coming over here for money. And she’s just gonna keep using that, and using your guilt, for as long as you’re willing to let her because that’s what users do. It’s okay to say no to someone like that, Allie.”

There. He’d said his peace. If she wasn’t ready to listen, then there wasn’t anything else he could do or say, other than to do what he could to keep her as safe as the club could keep her. Maybe he’d have to have a prospect or two on rotation on her street. Maybe she wouldn’t let someone from the club sit outside her house, but they could sit down the street, away from view but close enough to be there if need be.

And just as he was starting to come around to that idea, and figuring his VP would whole-heartedly agree, Allie snatched her phone off the side table next to her and, without hesitating, let her fingers fly across the screen before hitting another button, and then dropping the phone back to the table with a heavy thud.

“There,” she murmured so softly he had to lean in to hear her.

“What?”

She sighed heavily, wiped one more stray tear from underneath her lashes, and then her lips curled wistfully. “I just told her I didn’t want to hear from her anymore if she was only going to ask for money.”

His eyebrows shot into his forehead, and she jumped to explain, “She was probably expecting it anyway, after seeing you here.”

Yeah, that was probably true. He rubbed his mouth in thought - that probably wasn’t enough, though, but it was a start.

“And,” she went on. “I figured if I didn’t do it now and waited until after you left, I’d lose the nerve and make up some excuse to wait until tomorrow. And then tomorrow would come and I wouldn’t be able to do it.”

Yeah, that was probably true too. He just hoped it would stick.

A door slammed from somewhere inside the kitchen, and Allie jumped a little at the sound, laughing under her breath as a singsong voice carried all the way through to the patio: “Heeelllooo? I see we have a viissitooor…”

“He’s probably all wound up from filming,” Allie murmured to him with a wince. “I think you’d better run while you can.”

He huffed out a laugh, tossed his cigarette to the ground, and scooped up his empty food carton with his free hand. “Good call.”

Allie jumped out of her chair, grabbing her own empty food carton, along with her phone, and started heading toward the patio door that led back inside her kitchen. Then she stopped short, turning on her heel to face him head on.

“Hey, Jax?”

“Yeah?”

Something flickered across her beautiful face that he couldn’t quite place. It was more than gratitude. Different from resignation. Not the same as self-consciousness. And then her lips parted again.

“Thank you.”

So, he just let his mouth curve up in a grin. “Anytime, darlin’.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Since I'm probably going to finish chapter 20 today, I figured there was no good reason why I couldn't post this today, seeing as it's one of my favorite chapters (and then I wrote chapter 16 and chapter 19, and now those are my favorites too). I think this was really the one everyone was waiting for and I just didn't want to wait until Wednesday to post it. I might post two chapters a week from time to time since I'm so far ahead, but I don't want to promise anything just yet just in case.
> 
> Thoughts on this chapter? We're really seeing them connecting here in a way that has nothing to do with the club or the work she does for them. It's just about him being there for her because he wants to, and making sure she's okay. And for Allie, it's the first time she's seeing Jax out of his natural habitat, so to speak, and seeing that he just might be able to be what she needs, even if she's not ready to admit that yet. I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts!


	12. Chapter Twelve

Allie had a bad feeling about this. 

It wasn’t just the worn building that looked like it had seen better days. It wasn’t just the neon sign with three of its lights burnt out. It wasn’t just the cracked pavement covering the parking lot. It wasn’t just the long white sign hanging at the front of the building advertising 10 cent wings on Tuesdays. It was just...all of it.

And yet, she was getting out of her car and trailing after Jax, Opie, and Bobby to head inside.

The three Reaper cuts moved purposefully through the parking lot, but the only one who seemed to be taking careful inventory of the whole place - other than her - was Bobby. Jax and Opie were too distracted by the potential of this deal to see anything else, and they sauntered through the parking lot like a pair of kings. It seemed they’d already made up their minds, sight unseen. That was going to be a problem.

It had been about a week since their last business meeting like this, which, incidentally, was also the last time she’d seen Jax. Since he left her house, their contact had been through text messages, starting with Jax telling her about this potential deal. When it came time to actually talk through the details, Bobby had been the one to call her and walk her through everything they’d been able to find out ahead of time. That was fine. It was better this way, anyway, if they kept their distance. Jax being in her house, eating dinner with her, sitting on her patio, the conversation they’d had, the real reason why he’d gotten suspended all those years ago...it felt like they’d crossed some kind of invisible line. It was too personal, too intimate, especially given the nature of what their relationship to each other was  _ supposed _ to be.

So, for now, she was happy to trail behind him and avoid eye contact for as long as possible.

Her phone buzzed in her purse, and she mindlessly reached for it, mostly just to double-check that she’d really silenced it. One glance at the text message and her phone was flying back inside her purse.

_ Please, Allie,  _ the text message read.  _ I’d really like to talk about this. Can I call you tonight? _

Sure,  _ now _ Anna wanted to have a conversation over the phone. The phone that Allie had probably paid for. Text messages were just too impersonal now. They had to have a  _ real  _ conversation now that Anna had been cut off.

It was hard not to respond with anything laced with bitterness or sympathy. She didn’t want to exacerbate the issue and certainly didn’t want to do anything to escalate it. One word responses were the best she could do. If she engaged any further, she worried she’d give in. So far, so good though. After taking Jax’s advice and moving her cash from her bedroom to a drawer in her kitchen, and investing in a can of pepper spray, she was still standing firm. A week later, she still had that flag planted in the ground.

Jax was right. Anna’s only concern was for herself, and she was just going to keep using Allie’s guilt against her for as long as she let her.  _ Because that's what users do _ , he’d told her.

Those words had hit hard. She’d needed to hear them, but that didn’t make them any easier to hear.

With her phone safely tucked back inside her purse, she could just focus on this meeting right now and worry about responding later when she got back to her office. She straightened her silk leopard skirt - this California heat was making it stick to the back of her legs in a really uncomfortable way, given her present company - and she let it flare out a little where it hit right below her knee to move some air around. She’d kept it more casual today and paired the skirt with a plain white T-shirt tucked inside. Against her better judgment, she’d also decided to wear a black bralette underneath - the T-shirt wasn’t exactly transparent, but it was thin enough to make it clear just what color her bra was to anyone looking. And as Jax held the door open for her so she could enter the building, his eyes flicked right to her chest, like he was in the middle of deciphering just that very thing.

His lips curled into a slow smirk, his blue eyes flashing with something she didn’t want to think about.

“After you,” he grinned, sweeping out a hand in front of the door’s threshold.

She also wasn’t going to think about the fact that she’d chosen this particular outfit, with its barely there peek of her undergarments, because she knew she would see him today. This was not her normal uniform, and while it was still pretty conservative, she was lying to herself if she thought she would’ve picked this outfit out on any other day this week.

So, Allie stepped inside The Crown Jewel with Jax right on her heels. His hand ghosted over the small of her back as he stepped around her, casting a smirk at her over his shoulder that dripped with a sensuality that had little tremors vibrating all the way down to her stomach. As he joined Opie and Bobby ahead of her, Allie took a deep breath. Time to get into work mode.

The house speakers pumped out the beats of “Whatever You Like” through the whole club and her gaze flicked right to the center stage, where an admittedly skilled dancer swung around the metal pole upside down with her muscular legs spread-eagle in the air. Allie had always been a little in awe of women who could do that - the upper body strength it had to take to pull something like that off and still manage to inject some sexiness into the movement too was pretty spectacular.

When she shifted her gaze to the Reaper cuts in front of her, she found all three heads turned and fixated on the dancer on the center stage. She figured she couldn’t really blame them - the woman was topless with only a thin strip of fabric covering the rest of her. Still, Allie’s eyes lifted to the ceiling. Freaking typical.

While their attention was decidedly otherwise occupied, Allie took that opportunity to sweep her eyes over the rest of her surroundings. She couldn’t say she’d been in many strip clubs before, but as far as strip clubs went, this was probably pretty run of the mill. Matted burgundy carpeting covered the floor - that would probably have to be ripped out and replaced. Who knew how old it was, when was the last time it’d been cleaned, or what, exactly, those stains were. She side-stepped a few of those stains as they ventured deeper inside the club just to be safe. The walls were covered with posters of topless women swinging around poles - again, probably pretty typical. Not exactly tasteful, but it was a strip club...seemed like it would come with the territory. Her eyes drifted to the ceiling, lingering on the water marks coloring more than a few of the ceiling tiles. And then, her gaze fell to the all-you-can-eat buffet table...while food and sex, on paper, seemed like a great primal pairing, serving food in a place like this brought with it a whole other slew of potential, if not already existing, problems. Plenty of well-managed clubs could pull it off without any issues. The optimal word here, of course, was  _ well-managed _ .

So far, not so great.

“Ah!” a gruff voice called out from the bar. “Jax Teller!”

All three Reaper cuts tore their gazes away from the center stage to turn their heads to the owner of the voice, who, Allie guessed, was probably the owner of this club. His tall frame filled out his trim navy suit, and his hair was buzzed short, probably to hide the receding hairline. The owner blew out a long stream of smoke from his cigarette as he stepped around the side of the bar to stride over to where they stood.

He reached out to shake Jax’s hand and clapped him on the shoulder with the other one, “Dominic King. It’s great to finally meet you.”

Jax grinned back good-naturedly and clapped him right back on the shoulder in a bro-hug before Dominic moved on to greeting Opie and Bobby the same way. Allie lingered off to the side, not really needing to be part of the bro-fest, and her eyes dropped to the center stage again where the dancer gyrated up and down with both legs wrapped leisurely around the metal pole. Her eyebrows lifted - that was pretty impressive.

“Well, ya know, sweetheart,” Dominic’s voice called out to her and she shifted her gaze away from the stage to where he stood, watching her with a knowing smile. “She could teach you, but I’d have to charge.”

Allie didn’t miss a beat, barely registering the way Jax had stiffened beside her. “Because my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard. Got it.”

Dominic laughed and wagged a finger at her. “I like that. I think that could be your stage song.”

Jax shifted his weight from one foot to the other, tilting his head back to stare straight ahead at Dominic with his shoulders stiff as a board. It must’ve been subtle - Allie didn’t have a good enough view of his face to really tell - because the sleazy grin didn’t drop off Dominic’s face. If anything, it just left an even greasier trail across his face.

She blew out a sigh and plastered a placatingly grin on her face. “Oh, you know, I think I might be more of an Ariana Grande girl. Maybe ‘Side to Side’?”

Dominic laughed heartily, and she thought she heard Bobby chuckle on the other side of Opie. Jax, though, did not see the humor here. He turned his head, tension rolling off his shoulders, and when their eyes met, he cocked an incredulous eyebrow at her as if to say,  _ what in the actual fuck are you doing right now? _

Allie just shrugged at him. That certainly wasn’t the worst thing a man had ever said to her, or about her. In fact, it was actually pretty tame. So big deal. Why react and ruin the meeting before it even started?

“She’s not here to audition for you,” Opie allowed tightly, and from where she stood, even Opie looked a little tense from this whole exchange. Allie just rolled her eyes at him.

Finally, with an exasperated sigh, she hitched a hand on her hip and extended the other out to Dominic. “I’m the club’s representation, Attorney Allie Levy.”

The slick grin on Dominic’s face froze in place and then his eyes dropped to her outstretched hand. His eyes flicked to Jax as they shook hands, and Jax held his gaze, staring back at him with just a little bit of lethal animosity. Almost instantly, Dominic’s hands flew up in the air in defense.

“I’m so sorry,” he backpedalled. “I didn’t mean to imply -”

“Why don’t we head back to your office and get started?” Jax cut in as he shoved his hands deep inside his pockets, rocking back on his heels. He still hadn’t let up, keeping his cold blue eyes pinned to Dominic in silent warning.

“Sure,” Dominic laughed nervously, running a hand over his near-hairless head, and then he gestured for them to follow him down a dark hallway.

Allie fought the urge to roll her eyes again when Jax purposefully side-stepped around her to position himself directly in between her and Dominic as they made their way down the hallway. That was a little unnecessary, and she also didn’t really appreciate the way Jax and Opie were acting like Dominic had just suggested she go into a back room with him for a private show.

They stepped inside Dominic’s office, with Bobby and Opie dropping into the two chairs across from the desk. There was only one chair left, so Jax gestured to it with a ringed hand, signalling that she was supposed to take it. He positioned himself right in between Opie and Allie, resting a hand on the back of both chairs in a stance that should’ve looked casual and somewhat nonthreatening, if not for the tattoos covering his exposed forearms and the passive aggression simmering underneath his leather cut.

“Now,” Dominic started as he sat down across from them. “I know we haven’t gotten off to a great start -”

“Mistaking our lawyer for a stripper?” Jax bared his teeth with a smile. “Yeah. Not a great start, bro.”

Dominic’s hands flew up in the air again, and then one hand dropped to press into his chest. “Yes, that was my mistake,” he shifted his gaze to Allie, “I apologize. Truly.”

“No harm, no foul,” Allie threw out, trying smooth things over as best she could so this meeting could move forward, and she could leave. “I’m flattered, actually. That girl on the stage has some upper body strength I would kill for.”

Opie shifted his head to glance at her. Apparently, he, too, was not amused. In fact, irritation flickered across his face as he swiveled his gaze back to Dominic, who squirmed a little in his chair. Bobby, though - his low chuckle bounced off the walls in this otherwise silent office. At least there was one man in this room who wasn’t a total Neanderthal.

“So,” Bobby slapped his hands on his thighs congenially. “Let’s get this party started, huh? I had a chance to look over those quarterly numbers you sent over. Very impressive, my friend.”

Allie reached into her purse to pull out the reports Bobby was talking about and set them on her lap for reference. Even as she skimmed through the paperwork she’d already read through a million times, she could feel Jax’s eyes on her from over her shoulder. Which, she was grateful now that her white T-shirt was a crewneck - albeit a thin, slightly see-through one - because if it wasn’t, right about now, he’d have a clear view right down the front of her shirt.

She crossed her legs, situating the papers on her lap as she reached inside her purse again for a notepad and a pen. She had a whole list of questions prepared, and luckily, Bobby was doing his part to break the ice and get this moving.

“Thank you,” Dominic grinned broadly back at Bobby, some relief snaking around his features. “I’ve worked really hard to build up to that, and I think now is the time for that expansion I’ve always been dreaming about. I think this,” he gestured out to them, “could be the thing both sides need here to take it to the next level.”

Allie’s eyes flicked up from her papers to meet Dominic square in the eye. This guy was full of shit.

“And when do you think the expansion would turn a profit?” Jax asked from over her shoulder. His voice was more even now, and she hoped it was just because he’d had enough time to calm down.

Dominic lifted a shoulder. “Six months. Maybe eight - tops.”

From the corner of her eye, she could see Opie nodding, obviously satisfied with that answer. Sure, that sounded great. Just realistic enough to actually be believable.

“I just have a few questions, if you don’t mind,” Allie smiled warmly.

“Of course,” Dominic shrugged as he leaned back in his chair. “I’m happy to answer any questions you have.”

“My understanding is that the building expansion would be built directly behind the current one. You own this building right now, correct?”

She knew the answer already, but she wanted to keep him talking for as long as she could. Make him feel comfortable long enough to get the information she needed.

“That’s right,” he nodded, his lips lifting in a confident smirk.

“Of course,” Allie smiled and folded her hands across her lap as she leaned an elbow on her thigh. “I took a look at the plat map for this property and -”

“Where did you find that?” Dominic frowned at her, running a hand over his mouth as if he was seeing her with new eyes.

“Oh,” she laughed easily. “It’s on the state’s website. They have a parcel map with all the property lines. Pretty simple.”

She felt Jax shift behind her, but Dominic folded his hands carefully - too carefully - on his desk and schooled an impassive expression on his face. So, she pressed on.

“If the parcel map is correct on where your property lines begin and end,” and she knew it was, “it seems as though the expansion is going to run into the next parcel directly behind it. Now -”

Dominic leaned forward, his forehead creased with confusion. “How do you know that?”

Allie inhaled slowly, and then exhaled again even slower. “Your blueprints show the expansion accounting for a 50 percent addition to the building. If  _ that’s  _ correct, then the expansion will encroach into the next parcel by about…” she lifted a shoulder, “20 feet or so. I know that may not seem like a huge issue right now, but there are -”

“Now, hold on just one minute -”

“There are permits,” Bobby nodded as he stroked his beard in thought, and it was clear he’d quickly caught on to what she was getting at. “You have to get permission from the owners of that property behind you. You might even have to throw some cash at them to get them to agree to it. You talked to them about this? Find out how likely they are to agree?”

Dominic paused long enough for Bobby to finish talking, and then he furiously shook his head. “I’ve done my due diligence here. I’m happy to show you the permits and the agreements that have been put in place with the property owners behind me. I assure you, everything is up to par here.”

“And I’m sure it is,” Allie smiled again, careful to keep her tone even and cool. She’d learned a long time ago that men like Dominic King only responded well to a woman who catered to his needs first. “No one here is trying to say otherwise. I just want to make sure my clients have all the information they need at their disposal to make an informed decision. I’m sure you’d be willing to send me copies of the permits and the agreements after our meeting so I can review them. I’d also like to -”

“I’d be happy to send you any information you want,” Dominic told her tightly, his eyes glinting with some bitterness and antagonism. That was fine. “Within reason, of course.”

Allie gritted her teeth and flashed him a smile. “Of course. And, I’m sure, when you secure the loan for the expansion, you’ll be -”

“Hold on,” Dominic held out a hand, leaning forward a little more aggressively in his chair. “That’s still in the works, okay? There’re a ton of hoops to jump through and I’m working on it,” his eyes narrowed at her now, “You can’t just call around to banks to find out if I’ve gotten a loan from them. They won’t tell you that. How the hell did you get that information?”

Allie’s lips lifted smugly. “You just told me.”

Dominic’s eyes widened in surprise and he immediately leaned back with his palms against his desk, panic flickering across his face.

And it was just as she figured. He didn’t have the money. At least not right now. And that’s exactly what he needed Samcro for. They were eager for a deal, and he was eager for the cash. He probably assumed Samcro would just toss the cash at him with very little questions asked based on his club’s reputation alone, as long as it was in writing somewhere that they got their cut and he delivered it on time.

“So, I would really like to perform a detailed audit of the expansion plans,” she pressed on, “As well as any current business details you can provide me with, mainly your payroll for the last five years, any and all health and safety inspections performed during operations -”

“I’m sure that’s something we can -”

Allie blew out a harsh breath, leaning forward in her chair. “If you could stop interrupting me for  _ just  _ a second, that would be  _ really  _ great _. _ ”

Dominic blinked back at her in surprise, and from the other side of the room, she heard Bobby’s muffled chuckle, like he was trying to stifle his reaction with his beard. Opie’s eyes remained locked on Dominic, but his features had softened with a bemused grin and he cocked an eyebrow at Dominic, as if to challenge him to try interrupting her one more time.

His hands flew up in the air in defense, and then Dominic leaned away from his desk with a nervous laugh. “I’m sorry. I really am - I just wasn’t...I wasn’t expecting Samcro to walk in here with a lady lawyer doin’ all their work for them is all, okay? I’m really sorry.”

Allie’s eyes narrowed dangerously, and she was sure her nostrils were flaring. Opie shifted in his chair to glance over his shoulder at Jax, who’d taken a purposeful step forward.

“What exactly are you tryin’ to say, bro?” Jax’s voice had some humor in it, sure, but when Allie dared a glance over her shoulder, he was pinning hard blue eyes on Dominic with a mirthless grin curving his mouth.

Dominic’s eyes widened, as if he’d just now realized that last comment wasn’t just a slight against Allie, but also implied - whether purposefully or not - that Samcro needed a woman to fight their battles for them. And the more she thought about it, the more irritated she became. Jax had stood literally and figuratively behind her this entire time while Dominic tried to belittle and run over the top of her at every turn, and had only chosen to intervene when  _ his  _ precious ego got bruised, when it was even  _ suggested  _ that the club might need a woman to help them. 

She didn’t  _ need _ him to intervene on her behalf, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t pissed off at the way Jax had puffed out like a peacock at the beginning of this meeting, putting on a show of dominance when Dominic made one, fairly innocuous comment about her - but here, in this business meeting, where it  _ really _ counted, where she really needed all hands on deck, he’d had no problem watching Dominic try to walk all over her.

The optimal word here, of course, was  _ try. _

“I understand,” Allie jumped in, pressing a tight smile on her face, and she felt Jax shift next to her, and he fisted his knuckles into the back of her chair, just beyond her shoulder. Just that movement alone had her irritation flaring. “I’m sure that was a shock to a man such as yourself. Now, I think we’re all in agreement here that this could be very beneficial for both sides, if we can make it work. That being said, my clients will not be buying into a business that hasn’t gone through a detailed audit. If that’s not an acceptable term to you, then there’s really nothing more to say.”

Dominic’s mouth parted to respond and then shut just as quickly. Finally, after rubbing a hand across his face, he nodded. “I understand. An audit is fine. I’m happy to provide you with whatever you need.”

“Very good,” Allie grinned tightly with a nod. “I have a few more things I’d like to run by you before we wrap up this first meeting,” she didn’t wait for him to respond, “I’m going to need detailed reports of your payroll and will need to conduct interviews with your current employees. I’ll also need the health and safety inspections I mentioned before. I’ll also need building reports, details on any updates you’ve made since you purchased it, and we’ll have a third-party conduct an inspection on the building - and I’d also like to see any insurance claims that you’ve made over the years. For instance, the watermarks on the ceiling near the center stage - did a pipe break at some point? If so, when was that repaired and who did the repairs? Did you file an insurance claim or repair it out of pocket? I’m sure you’d have that information at the ready as well.”

There was more, but Allie figured she’d already said enough at this point.

“So,” she folded her hands across her lap again. “Is that information you’re comfortable providing to my clients?”

Her eyes narrowed just enough as she studied Dominic’s reaction. When his eyebrow twitched, she had her answer.

“I, uh,” Dominic laughed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I think that would be just fine.”

Sure, it would.

“Well,” Bobby clapped his hands on his thighs again and then rose from his chair with a hand extended to Dominic. “I think that seems like a good place to call it for today. I guess you and our lawyer will be in touch about the audit, and then we can go from there.”

“Of course,” Dominic told him, and Allie was a little surprised he wasn’t wiping the sweat from his forehead. “We’ll be in touch. Of course.”

This seemed like a good time to pack it up, so Allie tossed the papers, notepad, and pen in her hands back in her purse and stood up from her chair. Jax and Opie had already stepped forward to shake hands with Dominic one more time, and when Jax and Dominic shook hands, Dominic clapped him good-naturedly on the shoulder.

“Hey, why don’t you guys stop at the bar on your way out and have a drink on the house? You want a dance or anything like that, just name it and I’ll take care of it,” Dominic told him. “I really feel like this first meeting should’ve gone better...let’s just call this water under the bridge, alright? And - you know, Attorney Levy, that would give me a second to grab some of that information you mentioned before. I’d be happy to send some of it along with you now before you leave.”

Jax lifted a shoulder, but with his back to her, she couldn’t see where his true reaction landed. But, on reflex, she filed out after them, pressing a cool smile to her face as Dominic waited at the door to see them out of his office. So now, she was  _ Attorney Levy _ , huh? Suddenly she’d been deemed worthy of respect.

As they made their way down the hallway and back out onto the club’s main floor, there was a slightly bigger crowd out there than before - whether that was normal for noon on a Thursday, she couldn’t be sure. Jason Derulo’s voice vibrated from the house speakers as he told some girl her booty didn’t need explaining and that all she had to do was talk dirty to him, and the current dancer on the stage swung around the pole, expertly gyrating against the pole in movements perfectly timed to the bass.

That was goddamn impressive.

By the time they got to the bar, the song was just about over and the dancer spun around one last time to get the rest of her tips. Allie sat down on a barstool with her back to the stage and waved away the bartender dressed in booty shorts and a push-up bra with a polite smile. Bobby dropped into the barstool next to her, with Opie pulling out the one on the other side of her. Jax took a spot at the corner of the bar on the other side of Opie, leaning his elbows on the bar as he tipped his chin to the bartender and ordered three beers. She half-expected his eyes to drift over to the stage, considering he had a prime view from where he stood at the corner of the bar, but Jax kept his eyes rooted to the countertop as he reached inside his cut for his cigarette pack.

She had half a mind just to tell Bobby she’d get whatever documents Dominic wanted to give her some other time. Maybe she could figure out a way to stop by the clubhouse in a day or two and set the pick up with either Opie or Bobby - anyone but Jax. It wasn’t like this was the kind of deal the club should move on quickly, or even at all.

Maybe she was being stupid. Maybe she didn’t care. All she knew was that Jax was still an asshole - and no better than men like Dominic King and Georgie Caruso, who thought women were here on this earth to serve and to please. The more submissive and sexualized the woman, the better.

God, she just wanted to leave. She’d promised Lyla and Piper she’d be back at the studio in time for lunch, and right now, that was as good an excuse as any, and it wasn’t even a lie. What did she really need to sit here for anyway? Whose benefit was this really for? Just as she was mustering up the courage to tell Bobby she was leaving, the song blaring from the speakers changed to another familiar one. 

As the opening beats vibrated from the speakers, Allie’s eyes widened and her lips parted in surprise. 

_ I been there all night, I been there all day, and boy, you got me walkin’ side to side. _

Before she could stop herself, she glanced at Jax from the corner of her eye. He’d just brought his lighter up to the cigarette in between his lips, but at the words,  _ side to side _ , Jax’s movements stilled, his lighter frozen in mid-air. Then his eyes flicked to her, his eyebrows lifted high into his forehead. 

She bit down on her bottom lip to mask her smile - the last thing she needed right now was  _ this  _ \- and when the smile crept across her mouth again, she quickly schooled her expression and forced her gaze straight ahead, not willing to give him anymore of a reaction. Jax’s lips curled into a slow smirk, his eyes drifting to the countertop as he tilted his head a little to listen to the song. But, a moment later, his eyebrows knitted together in a frown, like he couldn’t quite figure out why, right now, with this particular song playing, she wasn’t playing along. At least not with  _ him _ .

By now, Bobby was bopping easily to the beat next to her, and she had to self-consciously cover her face with her hands for just a moment. Then her hands dropped down to the counter. Might as well own it. 

“Good song choice,” Bobby told her with a grin as he swiveled his shoulders to the rhythm.

“I know,” Allie laughed. 

She wasn’t quite sure what she was feeling right now. It wasn’t embarrassment - it was hard to be embarrassed in a place like this, let alone show it. But whatever it was, she was enjoying it, despite everything that had come before, and despite the fact that she’d rather smack Jax, maybe shove him in the chest or pull his hair, than sit here trying not to melt into a puddle at his feet. God forbid anyone suggest she was a stripper, but the second that song came on, she had a pretty good idea of where, exactly, his mind had gone. But  _ that  _ was totally fine, right? Even now, his eyes flickered to the center stage and the dancer swinging on the pole from side to side - those blue eyes seemed to glaze over with a heat that hadn’t been there at the beginning of the song.

She dared a glance at Opie, and huffed out a laugh at the way he hitched an elbow on the bar to scrub an agitated hand over his eyes. Then she let her gaze flicker back to Jax long enough to find that his eyes were on her. He bit down on his bottom lip to hide his smile, and then his eyebrows leapt into his forehead at the words,  _ dick bicycle _ . Something dark and sensual crept across his face as his tongue darted out to his bottom lip. He ran a thumb over his mouth, his lips still curling into a sexy smirk and his eyes darkening - it was subtle, but it was there. 

And, despite everything, she liked that she’d been the one to put it there.

* * *

“Well,” Bobby tossed out over his shoulder. “That guy’s a royal fuckin’ prick.”

Jax huffed out a laugh, digging out his cigarette pack again and lifting one to his lips to calm his nerves. He was on edge, and had half a mind to saunter back inside that club, head straight for Dominic King’s office, and trash the fucking place. Flipping over a chair or two would feel real good right now.

Instead, he lit a cigarette and puffed away.

He threw a glance over his shoulder to find Allie trailing after them in that leopard print skirt and see-through white T-shirt. Yeah, that shit wasn’t helping either right now.

“I don’t know about you guys,” Opie started easily as they strode over to where their bikes and Allie’s car were parked. “But I get the feeling something might be off about this deal.”

“That’s because he wants to use you guys as his own personal ATM,” Allie called out from behind them.

Jax’s steps stalled at the sound of her voice, and he shifted on his heel to face her. The irritation written on her face was beautiful, like it always was, but he was too keyed up to enjoy it. Instead, he lifted his eyebrows at her, signalling to her to continue.

She held up the small stack of papers in her hands - the ones Dominic had gingerly pushed at her before they left - and shrugged. “I’d bet my next paycheck he doesn’t give us anything more, at least not without a fight.”

Bobby nodded grimly. “I hear ya,” and then he playfully bumped her with his shoulder, “Nice work in there, killah. You had that douchebag sweatin’ his balls off.”

“Yeah, well,” she replied flippantly, her lips pressed into a tight smile. “It’s not like anything I was saying was rocket science. I don’t think he was expecting it though.”

Right. What had that fucking prick said?  _ I wasn’t expecting Samcro to walk in here with a lady lawyer doing all their work for them.  _ He was lucky his legs weren’t broken. Or that he still had eyes in his head. Or that the club had made a pact they’d only take one more body - and his wasn’t it.

He tipped his chin to her, frowning a little at the way her dark eyes narrowed at him. “What do you think then?”   


“What do you mean?”

Jax just lifted a shoulder and flicked some ash from his cigarette. “You’re the lawyer here. What do you think we should do?”

He hadn’t meant for those words to come out so roughly...he was just so fucking pissed the meeting had gone down this way. This was supposed to be an opportunity - another shot at the deal they would’ve made with Luann. Another buy-in with the chance for lucrative and steady cash. But as it turned out, Dominic King wasn’t looking like he was going to be any better of a business partner than Luann would’ve been, if this first meeting was any indication.

While he’d normally be willing to give Dominic the benefit of the doubt, everything about that meeting had rubbed him the wrong way.

And, if the way Allie’s jaw tightened was any indication, their feelings about this meeting were mutual. Although, right now, it looked like she was directing all her animosity and irritation at  _ him _ .

“Well,” Allie pushed out a heavy sigh, shifting her weight from side to side on her high heels. “I’d have to do the audit first before I could say either way. It’s possible everything will check out - I noticed he included the agreement with the people who own the property directly behind the building, so that’s probably squared away. Although, I noticed there weren’t any copies of permits in those papers he gave me. Still, I...I wouldn’t hold my breath. He doesn’t have the money right now, and I also don’t buy that you’d see a profit in six to eight months, not with the kind of expansion he’s talking about anyway. And there are other opportunities with other people. You don’t have to get into business with some fly by night strip club owner just because the opportunity is there. If this feels wrong, then it probably is.”

He nodded slowly and rubbed his thumb across his lip in thought. She was right - this felt wrong. And this wasn’t the only business in Charming looking to expand or looking for new investors.

“Besides,” she went on with a shrug. “We still haven’t closed on that retail building deal. I think it’s okay to let everything breathe and take it slow. One deal at a time.”

Yeah, she was right about too. Except for the fact that the more runs they went on, the more pressure they were putting on themselves. The faster they could get the cash flow they needed, the sooner they could put all that in the rearview mirror.

“I get that,” he told her roughly. “But we need to keep movin’. If we’re shelving this one for the time being, then we gotta move on to the next one.”

Allie’s eyes flashed darkly. Alright, so maybe, in addition to being pissed about how this meeting went, she was also pissed at  _ him _ . Just fucking great. It would be nice if he at least knew what he’d done this time that was so goddamn terrible.

“A’ight,” Bobby nodded. “I’ll start puttin’ some feelers out. See what else we can dig up.”

“Well,” she smiled tightly. “On that note, I need to get back to the studio. I promised Lyla and Piper I’d be back in time for lunch. I’ll let you know if I hear anything from him.”

He waved at her as she said her goodbyes to Opie and Bobby, noting grimly that she only afforded him another taut smile before sliding into her BMW and driving away. Jax pushed out a rough sigh, tossed his spent cherry onto the pavement, and lit up another one. He’d probably go through three packs before he hit the sack tonight with the way this day was going.

Bobby clapped him on the shoulder good-naturedly and jerked his thumb behind him. “I gotta say, prez, that was some good hire. I wasn’t kiddin’ when I said she was a killah. That, right there, is why you hire a lawyer that knows what the hell they’re doing.”

He blew out another breath. “Yeah, I know.”

“Hey?” Bobby grinned, waggling his eyes a little as he pulled his helmet on. “You wanna know what I learned today?”

Jax and Opie exchanged an exasperated glance, before Opie called out, “What’s that?”

“I learned,” Bobby’s grin just widened and he wagged a finger at them, “that you should never, ever refer to a lawyer, who also happens to be female, as a _ lady lawyer. _ They don’t like that.”

Jax’s lips quirked at the memory. Up until that moment, she’d kept up the polite routine pretty well. As soon as Dominic dropped that little nugget, though, all bets were off. And the way she’d unleashed on him was a beautiful thing to behold. He knew all too well what it was like to be on the wrong side of the negotiation table with her, and he wouldn’t have traded places with Dominic King in that moment for anything.

“Yeah,” Opie grimaced as he swung his leg over the side of his bike. “She wasn’t crazy about that, was she?”

“No, she was not,” Bobby chuckled, revving his engine to life.

“You know, brother,” Opie was saying to him now. “She seemed kinda pissed before she left. At  _ you _ , especially. What’d you do now?”

Jax sighed heavily and shook his head. “Fuck if I know.”

Opie just lifted a shoulder and revved his engine to life - at least it looked like his VP was going to drop that for now. It’d be different if he could actually pinpoint what he’d done before, during, or after that meeting to make her so goddamn cranky. All he’d done was give her the space she needed to do her job. He was still shaking his head and had just swung his leg over his own bike, when his prepay buzzed in his cut. He slipped it out of his pocket to glance at the caller ID and swore under his breath when he saw who was calling.

“Harrison,” Jax answered, making sure his voice was loud enough for Bobby and Opie to hear. 

“Jax,” he replied smoothly through the phone. “I’m glad I was able to get a hold of you.”   


“Oh, yeah?” Jax told him, glancing carefully at Bobby and Opie, who’d killed their engines to listen in. “What’s up, bro?”

“Look, I don’t want anyone to jump the gun or anything here, but I think I’ve got something. I’m not quite sure what it is yet, but it’s the first hit I’ve gotten on your guy so far. I think it’s worth pursuing.”

Jax nodded slowly, his eyes drifting to the pavement in thought. “Alright.”

He listened as their PI explained what he’d found - or at least, what he  _ thought  _ he’d found - and the more he heard, the more he felt like throwing up. Or smashing his phone. And when Harrison finished sharing his plans to suss out whether this was actually real, or just a rumor, Jax snapped his prepay shut and tossed it back into his cut. Either way, Harrison would be making a trip to the clubhouse soon to collect some payment and they’d need to get the cash ready.

Jax sighed heavily and scrubbed a hand over his face. He squeezed his eyes shut, and when he opened him again, Opie and Bobby were waiting.

“Harrison’s headed to Mexico,” he told them roughly. “He thinks Darby might be hiding out with a cartel.”

“Fuck,” Opie exhaled and shook his head.

Bobby just lifted his eyes to the sky, as if that might will this all away. If Darby was holed up, probably underground, with some Mexican cartel, then it was no wonder Juice hadn’t been able to find any trace of him. If there was one thing cartels were good at it, it was staying under the radar, especially in plain sight. Harrison didn’t think Darby had hooked up with Galindo somehow - but in the end, what difference did it make? A cartel was a fucking cartel. And if this was true, things were about to go from bad to worse.

And here he’d thought this day couldn’t get any shittier.

* * *

Allie glared at the piles of paperwork cluttering her desk. All she wanted to do was go home, run five miles to work out some of this aggression, and then take a nice, long hot bath before willing herself to sleep without the need for any sleeping aids tonight. The odds of actually getting home at a decent hour and doing any of those things were looking slimmer and slimmer as this day went on.

Her eyes dropped to her newly-minted legal assistant, and she smiled broadly.

“Hey, Piper,” Allie called out to her, resting her chin on her hand with a grin.

Piper, who’d been engrossed with her phone just a moment before, glanced up like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Her cheeks flushed and the phone immediately clattered to the desk.

“I’m sorry, Allie,” Piper murmured shyly. “I know I shouldn’t -”

“Hey, hey,” she laughed. “It’s alright! You need to respond to a text, you need to respond to a text. I mean, maybe don’t sit on your phone all day, but I’m not gonna be upset if you use your phone every once and awhile.”

Piper let out the breath she’d been holding, relief washing across her face. “Okay.”

“I was  _ going  _ to ask if you wanted to help me sort through some of this mess on my desk,” Allie shrugged, and then she bit back a laugh when Piper’s phone buzzed on the desk. “You gonna get that or what?”

Hopefully, Piper had someone more interesting, and less tragic, on the other end than Allie usually did. Seeing as though she still had a few unanswered text messages of her own to deal with, she figured she wasn’t one to judge.

Piper chewed on the inside of her cheek, and after a moment of indecision, she grabbed her phone and skimmed the text. When that blush on Piper’s cheeks only deepened, it looked an awful lot like when Jax had been in this same office with them last week and she’d all but combusted in her chair. Her teeth gritted just at the thought of that jerk’s name.

So, she shifted her focus back to Piper. “Big plans tonight? I know it’s just Thursday, but I guess it’s never too early to get a start on the weekend.”

“No,” Piper shook her head and dipped her head down a little. “Tomorrow night.”

“Oh,” Allie nodded nonchalantly, and made a show of settling back into her chair to get back to work, before glancing back up at Piper. If Piper wanted to share more, she’d be more than happy to listen - and for the potential gossip, and the distraction. And after a few moments of silence, Piper’s quiet voice rang out again.

“There’s this guy,” she murmured, biting down on her bottom lip. “We’ve been to a couple of movies with some other people before. He wants to go to a movie with just me tomorrow night.”

Allie’s lips parted to respond, but she hesitated. Was  _ going to a movie  _ code for something? Was that what the kids were calling it these days? Probably best just to roll with it.

“Oh, okay. Do you want to go to a movie with just him?”

Piper just lifted a shoulder. “I guess.”

Her blush said otherwise. Allie smiled softly at her and nodded, folding her arms down on her desk in thought.

“Is he cute?”

Piper chewed on her bottom lip again before nodding almost imperceptibly. “I don’t know if my mom will let me go though.”

“Okay,” Allie replied slowly. They were getting into some uncharted waters here, and she wasn’t sure how far she could push. “Does she...not like this guy or something?”

“I don’t think it’s that. She’s just…” Piper trailed off, tilting her head a little to the side before letting her eyes drop back to her phone again. “She’s weird about guys. Well, weird about guys and  _ me _ .”

“Oh,” Allie nodded again. 

Lyla had gotten pregnant with Piper when she was 17, so it sort of made sense that she was hyper-sensitive to her 15-year-old daughter hanging out with boys. And, given her profession, it also made sense that Lyla wanted her daughter to stay as young and as innocent for as long as she could. Allie wished she’d had a mom like that - her mom was always too strung out to be useful for any kind of advice, let alone advice about boys, and even if she hadn’t, Anna Levy’s track record with men didn’t exactly make her Allie’s first choice for girl talk. When her dad married Mary Winston, she’d hoped that maybe this was finally a chance to have a real mom, who talked to her about real things, but that had been pretty much dead on arrival from the beginning. She’d been lucky to have a few teachers at Charming High she could go to when she needed to talk.

“She doesn’t want me to end up like her,” Piper confirmed and then lifted her eyes to the ceiling, as if just even saying the words out loud was annoying.

“Well,” Allie laughed. “I mean, you can’t blame her, right?”

Piper lifted a shoulder, but there was still a little bit of a smile there too. “I guess.”

“Hey,” Allie started again, leaning forward on her elbows to help make her point. “All I know is that your mom cares about you. She really does. Trust me, you’re really lucky to have a mom like that. And you know...if you like this guy, and you want to spend some more time with him, maybe see if he wants to do something someplace where you guys can actually see each other and talk. Like, I don’t know, bowling or something.”

Piper’s mouth quirked up. “Bowling?”

“Yeah,” Allie laughed, and she leaned forward in a faux-panic. “Do people not bowl anymore? I don’t know - it’s been forever since I did anything outside of my house for fun.”

“No…” Piper trailed off, watching her curiously. “People still bowl, I guess.”

“Okay, good. I was worried I’d completely missed the boat on anything fun. You know, since I don’t have it.”

A shy smile spread across Piper’s face and she shrugged. “I don’t know...maybe you’re right. Maybe we should do something other than see a movie - that’s all we’ve ever done together anyway.”

And, as far as Allie was concerned, anything was better than Piper being alone in a dark room with some guy. Although  _ alone  _ was a relative term in a movie theater, if this was more of a first solo date between them, it was more important for Piper to be with this guy around other people, who could see them and who could intervene if necessary. Not sitting next to some guy, whether she liked him or not, in some dark room where the opportunities were just about endless. The last thing she wanted was for Piper to find herself in a situation she didn’t know how to get out of.

“So, no bowling though?”

“Probably not,” Piper laughed, and Allie smiled at the sound. It was good to see her come out of her shell, a little bit at a time. “I think only old people bowl.”

“Hey!” Allie cried out with a laugh and playfully tossed a pen at her. “I’m not old. At least not  _ that  _ old.”

“Well,” Piper’s tips twisted ruefully. “If your first idea for a date is going bowling, then you’re old.”

“Well,” Allie scoffed. “I guess it’s a good thing I don’t have time to bowl then.”

Piper’s head tilted to the side a little in thought, her blue eyes studying her carefully. “So you don’t...bowl...like  _ ever _ ?”

Allie’s eyebrows lifted at the question. She hadn’t expected Piper to go down this road and turn the tables on her, but she was happy to keep Piper talking. Still, she definitely needed to choose her words carefully here. “I don’t... _ bowl _ very often. If anything, I’m... _ going to a movie  _ and even then, I haven’t had much time for that either lately.”

She could see the wheels in Piper’s head turning as she shifted through those words, and when that realization hit, Piper’s eyes lit up mischievously.

“Oh,” she grinned. “I see. When was the last time you... _went_ _to a movie_?”

Allie huffed out a laugh and shook her head at Piper. “I don’t think I’m gonna answer that question. But let me just say this, and since I’m old, I feel like I can say it - bowl first, okay? Then bowl again. And bowl again. And bowl a few more times before you go see that movie, okay? Don’t go to that movie before you’re ready, and before you’re sure you really wanna see  _ that  _ movie with  _ that  _ guy.”

Piper nodded slowly, her head tilting to the side thoughtfully. Maybe she’d said too much, too pointedly. But it was hard-earned advice, and if she was going to give it to anyone, it was going to be Piper,  _ before  _ she started dating, and  _ before  _ she went to college.

“Besides,” Allie threw out lightly. “Most guys are assholes, right? Half the battle is figuring out which ones are worth the time and the effort, and which ones aren’t.”

And which ones ran so hot and cold it made your head spin.

And which ones you should turn and run from as fast as your feet could take you.

Still, Piper took it the way she’d intended, and laughed with a wide smile. She got it. Allie just hoped she’d listen.

A knock rapped on the door, and it opened before Allie had a chance to respond. Tig’s wiry head stuck through the door and he waved sheepishly.

“Sorry, ladies. I didn’t mean to interrupt,” he held a hand up as he cautiously stepped inside her office. He shoved his hands in his pockets, and for once, Tig actually looked a little tame. Maybe that had more to do with the fact that he was on security detail today. When Allie had passed him in the hall on her way back to her office, he’d nodded stoically, his eyes only flickering with something slightly depraved for a second. For him, that had probably taken a lot of effort.

“No problem,” Allie shrugged. “What’s up?”

He ran a hand over his hair, agitation crinkling up the side of his face. “You seen Lyla lately? I’ve been tryin’ to track her down for like 45 minutes now and I can’t pin her down.”

Allie’s eyes flicked to Piper, who frowned back at her. “We just saw her...maybe an hour or so ago for lunch. Right, Pipes? I think it was something like that, but I haven’t seen her since.”

Tig shifted his weight and a flicker of anxiety flashed across his face. “Alright. Any ideas where she might be? I might’ve...I might’ve jumped the gun a little and called Ope, but if you could help me off the hook, that’d be really great.”

And, judging by the way he anxiously rocked back on his heels, he wasn’t concerned about getting chewed out by the club’s VP for losing track of his wife at work. He was just concerned, in general, and he didn’t like that Lyla had disappeared. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered to rope Opie into this in the first place. Or her, for that matter.

“Well,” Allie sorted through all the places Lyla could be in her mind, frowning in concentration. “Sometimes the writers hole up in a few of the spare offices down the hall to get some work done. Did you check over there?”

Tig shook his head, his eyes dropping to the floor with a frown. “Maybe I’ll head over there then. The boys are on their way, but I should probably make sure I looked everywhere before they get here.”

She schooled her reaction, not wanting Tig to see any hint of irritation flashing across her face at the mention of  _ the boys _ . And here she thought she’d met her quota for encounters with aggravating men today. But still, that wasn’t the most important thing here. Lyla was more important than that, so she sprung up from behind her desk to walk toward her office door.

“I’ll go with you.”

Tig shook his head furiously. “Nah. It’s okay, Allie. Just point me in the right direction.”

“Well,” she lifted a shoulder. “If any of those doors are locked, you need a key, right?”

And, they both knew that if any of those doors were actually locked, it didn’t necessarily mean that Lyla wasn’t inside, if Tig’s agitation was any indication. Before he had a chance to protest, Allie opened the door and stepped into the hallway.

“Just...stay here, Piper, okay?” she called over her shoulder as Tig fell into step beside her.

“Don’t make me regret this, sweetheart,” Tig murmured to her. “If somethin’ happens to you  _ and  _ Lyla all in the same day, under my watch, I might as well hop on my bike and never look back.”

“I don’t know about that,” she huffed out a laugh, and gestured to one of the spare office’s doors as they approached. “She’s probably just getting some work done. She’s fine, right?”

Saying the words out loud didn’t make her believe them any more. And the trepidation in Tig’s wild eyes didn’t help matters either. So, she knocked on the door, waited a beat, and then let Tig try the doorknob. He stuck his head through the door, and finding nothing, shut it again and gestured with his head for them to head toward the next office. They did that two more times, until Tig tried the knob on another door, and it wouldn’t budge.

“You got that key, Allie?”

She flipped through her key ring, finding the one for this particular office, and handed it to him. Tig flashed her a reassuring grin, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Her chest heaved a little as he put the key in the lock, and turned the knob to open the door. 

“Stay behind me,” he murmured to her over his shoulder as he pushed the door open.

She barely got a look inside the office before Tig took off, heading straight for the two men who had Lyla pinned into the corner. One of the men slammed his fist right into Lyla’s already battered face just as Tig launched himself on the guy’s back to tear him away. Tig landed a punch, and then the other guy grabbed him from behind, wrapping his arms around Tig’s neck to put him in a chokehold.

Allie didn’t think. She just lurched forward to yank Lyla to her feet, pushing her out the office door as fast as she could.

“Run!” Allie gasped. “Run!”

She grabbed Lyla by the elbow, pulling her along down the hallway and headed right for her office door. Allie turned her head long enough to see one of Lyla’s attackers skid out into the hallway, and then break out into a dead sprint, headed straight for them.

Allie pushed Lyla inside her office in a desperate rush, and then closed the door behind them, flipping the lock a moment later. Somewhere, the sound of faint motorcycle engines roared in the distance, but maybe they’d already run out of time.

Because the man on the other side of the door started reaming into it over and over again. The door shook from the impact, and she could hear Lyla’s quiet weeping behind her and Piper shriek as the door shook again. Allie backpedalled, and in a split second decision, started pushing Lyla and Piper toward her window. She yanked the blinds up, pushed the window up as high as she could get it, and then reached for Piper’s shoulder to push her through.

Her frantic eyes fell to the parking lot, where a line of motorcycles pulled into the entrance. They were so close. They just needed to get out of this office and through this window, and then they could run to safety. The door shook again and again as Allie helped Piper through the window, and then instantly reached for Lyla to do the same. By now, the club had parked their bikes in a hurry, and she could see their tall frames throwing their legs over the side of their bikes to jump into action. Someone was running toward the studio’s main entrance, and the others were sprinting for her window with a flash of a blonde head and a tall hulking figure right out in front.

Lyla jumped down, landing safely on the pavement, and just as Allie swung a leg out the window to start climbing through, the door shook again, breaking open with a sick crack. The man burst through, frantically searching, blood dripping down his face. 

His furious gaze locked on Allie, and then he sprung forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to everyone who's read and followed along. Also, thank you if you've commented! I so appreciate the feedback and reading your thoughts really helps me! I know this one ended on a little bit of a cliffhanger, but I might be able to be persuaded to post the next chapter sooner, rather than later ;)


	13. Chapter Thirteen

He had seconds, maybe less than that. The door wasn’t going to hold much longer, and Allie was already halfway out the window. From the corner of his eye, he could see that Ope had Lyla and Piper, but all his focus was on the leg hitched over the window, the arms braced against the windowsill and he had to get to her - he didn’t have a moment to lose. His heart pounded in his chest, and pure adrenaline propelled him toward the window as he reached for her.

Allie shrieked, jumping at the feeling of leather gloves on her forearms. She was able to focus long enough to register that it was him, that it wasn’t somebody trying to hurt her, that she was so close to safety. His hands dropped to her waist, and he pulled her through the window just as her would-be attacker dove for her.

The second Allie’s feet hit the ground, Jax pounced.

That fucker stared back at him through the window, just long enough for Jax’s furious gaze to lock on him, and then he turned on his heel to run the other way. Jax swung a leg through the window, climbed through the rest of the way, and launched himself at the guy. He pinned him into the floor of Allie’s office, flipped him around on his back, and then he unleashed. Jax swung his fist over and over again, letting his knuckles crack across the guy’s face until his head bounced against the floor.

He glanced up long enough to see that Tig had skidded into the room, his wild eyes darting around and blood dripping from his nose. Jax let up and pinned the sorry sack of shit underneath him with his foot to keep him in place.

“Where’re the girls?” Tig huffed out breathlessly as he staggered deeper inside the office, his eyes scanning the room for any sign of them.

“Ope’s got ‘em,” Jax pushed out and then leaned his heel into the guy’s throat just for good measure.

Two seconds later, Happy and Chibs appeared in the doorway with a  _ second  _ asshole. They had his arms yanked behind his back as they shoved him inside the office, sending him right into the floor next to his buddy. Happy made quick work of securing the second guy, and promptly followed his president’s lead by slamming his foot right into the guy’s throat.

Now that things were under control, Jax took a moment to get his bearings again and come back to himself a little. He glanced down at the fucker underneath his white sneaker and grinned at him. This guy was lucky Tig had shown up when he did because Jax knew he might not have been able to stop. There were two of them - and the club really only needed one.

But, he reminded himself, the club got one more body.

These two weren’t it. And they were the luckiest sons of bitches in the world.

“You ready to talk?” Jax propped an elbow on his knee as he put a little more pressure on the throat underneath his foot. “Or you good like this? Doesn’t matter to me, bro. I could sit here all day.”

He let up just enough to give the guy some air, and the guy sputtered breathlessly underneath his foot. Jax gave him an opportunity, and when the idiot didn’t take it, his forearm pressed deeper into his knee to apply some more pressure.

“How ‘bout now?”

When the guy gargled a little underneath his foot, Jax let up on the pressure. Then he shifted his weight to haul the asshole up by the front of his shirt. Jax slammed his shoulders into the wall, making the shelves rattle from the impact. In a flash, Opie shoved Jax out of the way and wrapped his big bear paws around the guy’s neck.

Opie leaned in menacingly, bringing his face so close it was practically lethal. “You’re fucking dead.”

Jax put his hand on his VP’s shoulder, but Opie just shrugged him off.

“Ope -”

“You better make your peace, motherfucker,” Opie murmured lowly as the guy’s eyes squeezed shut. “You put your hands on my pregnant old lady. You know what that means?”

Jax blew out a breath, gesturing to Chibs and Tig with his head for some back-up. Together, the three Reaper brothers pulled and shoved, and finally, Jax gripped Opie by the shoulders and shook him as hard as he could.

“Ope,” Jax told him. “Back up, brother. Just back up. Just for now.”

Opie shoved out of their grip long enough to land one punch right into the guy’s eye. He fell back against the wall, and then Happy was on him, restraining him the same way he’d dealt with his buddy: arms tied behind his back and on his goddamn knees.

“What the hell happened?” a low voice rang out in the hallway, and Jax dragged his attention away from his VP to find Jimmy Sweet standing in the middle of the office, his eyes wide and chest heaving wildly.

Jax sighed heavily and stepped around the scene in front of him to bring their business partner up to speed. “Break in.”

Jimmy’s eyes just about fell out of his head, and he spun around in a panic. “Where’s Allie?”

“Out in the parking lot with Lyla and Piper,” Jax jerked a thumb over his shoulder toward the window she’d just crawled out of. “She’s fine.”

At least, from what he could tell. There hadn’t been any time to really find out just what had happened here and why the three girls had found themselves locked in Allie’s office with a window as their only escape route. Whatever the reason, they’d been smart to get out while they still could.

Even though it had just been a flash, he’d seen Lyla out of the corner of his eye as he sprinted toward that window. While Allie might be okay, Lyla was not. He’d seen enough to see the blood dripping from her nose, the way her right eye sat half-closed, the slashes across her cheeks. His blood boiled just at the thought. Opie had every right to want their heads.

They just couldn’t do it.

“What happened?” Jimmy was saying now. He had both hands in his hair as he surveyed the damage around his daughter’s office and then he abruptly kicked one of the guys on the floor right in the stomach. “You son of a bitch -”

Chibs had Jimmy by the shoulders before he could do anything else, and he put just enough pressure on Jimmy to pull him back. He, too, had every right to want their heads, but they also had some work to do before any kind of punishment could be handed out.

“How in the hell did they get past our security?” Jimmy growled.

Jax just shook his head at him. “I have no idea. We’re gonna find out though.”

Jimmy nodded in grim understanding, and a moment later, he blew out a breath, and ran a hand through his mussed hair, the picture of calm and resolute. “Alright. You should move these two pieces of shit,” he gestured toward them in disgust, “outta this room though. There are some spare offices down the hall. You can use one of those to do whatever you gotta do. Just make sure you clean it up when you’re done.”

Jax’s mouth quirked at Jimmy’s flippant acceptance of whatever the club needed to do. It was clear he didn’t care, clear he wanted this dealt with under the table just as much as they did. Nobody would be calling the cops here today, that was for damn sure. Now, he just needed to keep Jimmy busy so he could stay out of their way and let them do what they did best.

He clapped Jimmy on the shoulder and nodded to him. “Maybe it’s time to check the security footage. See what you can get from it?”

Jimmy’s forehead crinkled in thought, his eyes drifting back down to the men on the floor. “Alright. That’s a good idea. I’ll check the logs - see if they signed in for anything.”

Yeah, that seemed like a good idea too. Judging by the suits those assholes were wearing, Jax was willing to bet his left nut they’d had some kind of cover story to get inside the building. They’d obviously been allowed inside somehow, and somebody had sent them.

Then he tipped his chin to Happy, signaling that it was time to move. Happy didn’t hesitate, gripping one of the guys on the floor by the shoulders to haul him and shove him out into the hallway. Chibs followed suit with the other fucker, and Jax watched down the hallway long enough to see Jimmy leading the way toward another open door. Then he shifted back into Allie’s office to level Tig with a hard stare.

“What the hell happened here, bro?”

Tig shook his head, his eyes swimming a little with remorse, and he scrubbed his face with both hands. “I looked everywhere for her, man. I tried...I knew something was wrong. I fucking  _ knew  _ it, and I shoulda called Ope earlier.”

Jax blew out a deep breath and folded his arms across his chest. As much as he wanted to lay the blame on Tig’s shoulders, if those guys got through security and were just walking around the building without anyone around them batting an eye...Tig could only be in so many places at once.

“I looked everywhere,” Tig pushed on hoarsely. “And then I asked Allie and Piper if they’d seen her - I figured they’d had to have seen her, right? One of those two had to know and I was just being paranoid. And then Allie thought maybe Lyla was workin’ in one of those offices down the hall,” Tig gestured with his head toward the hallway, “so we went lookin’ -”

“What do you mean  _ we _ ?”

Tig’s shoulders drooped heavily and he ran a hand over his face, smearing some of the blood from his nose onto his cheeks. “Allie had the keys. I figured some of those offices would be locked and I’d need to get inside.”

Jax’s jaw clenched, but he schooled his face into an impassive mask. He exhaled heavily through his nose just to release some of that tension, and Tig’s eyes widened a little.

“I panicked, okay, Jax? She had the keys with her, and I didn’t think. I just wanted to find Lyla, and if I had to do it over again -”

“I get it, bro.”

Tig’s eyes dropped to the floor with a tight nod. It had been stupid as shit, but Jax got it. In the heat of the moment, getting to Lyla had been the main priority and Allie had also been stupid enough to go along with him. Something dark and heavy coiled inside him at the thought of what  _ could’ve  _ happened today - it was already a shitshow - but things could’ve been worse. Allie’s face could’ve matched Lyla’s. Piper’s face could’ve matched Lyla’s too.

“We found Lyla in one of those offices down the hall,” Tig’s quiet, pained voice went on. “Those guys were on her. I pulled one of them off her, and Allie grabbed Lyla and ran.”

Jac nodded tightly. That was enough. They’d have to rely on the two assholes down the hall for the rest of the intel. However long it took.

“Alright, look,” Jax shifted his weight and blew out a deep breath. “We gotta keep Ope in check. I don’t care if he beats them to within an inch of their lives, but we gotta pull him back. He’s outta his fucking mind right now and I don’t blame him but...we gotta keep him in check, and since  _ you _ ,” he pointed a gloved hand at his sergeant at arms, “were the one who let this happen,  _ you’re  _ gonna be the one to hold him down and keep him down. We clear, bro?”

Tig swallowed hard and nodded, almost imperceptibly. If their roles were reversed, Jax couldn’t say he would’ve done much differently - other than letting Allie anywhere near those spare offices. Fucking shit for brains couldn’t have just taken the keys from her? Jesus Christ…

“We’re clear,” Tig told him solemnly. All the crazy had dissipated for the time being and for once in his life, Tig actually looked remorseful, like he truly believed he was responsible for what had just happened here today. Good - they could deal with all the rest later.

He gestured with his head toward the door and Tig fell into step next to him as they headed down the hallway. Opie was already pacing, just chomping at the bit to get inside that spare office where Happy was holding the two men who’d just beaten up his pregnant wife. At least he was with it enough to understand that he wasn’t getting inside that room until Jax opened the door for him.

As soon as their eyes locked, Jax blew out a deep breath. Opie looked goddamn feral right now, wild and unhinged, his eyes unseeing and blinded by rage. It was a wonder he even registered that Jax and Tig had come into the hallway.

“Let me the fuck in, Jax,” Opie growled. “You can’t keep me outta there.”

Jax held out a hand, nodding placatingly. “I got that, Ope. I know. I’m gonna let you in, but we gotta talk this through first, a’ight?”

Opie’s eyes narrowed darkly and something sinister crossed his face. Jesus, if Jax didn’t know him better, he’d be backing up with his hands high in the air.

“Those motherfuckers put their hands on my wife. What else is there to say?”

Now, Jax’s hands shot up into the air. “I know, Ope. I know. I’m right there with you - I want their heads on a stick just as much as you do right now, but you know we can’t.”

“Alright,” Opie nodded too easily, determination creasing his forehead. “Let’s get them to the clubhouse then. Or some warehouse where we can tear them apart piece by -”

“Ope,” Jax told him in an even, calm voice. It was just as important for Opie to know that he supported him as it was for him to understand Jax was only going to let him go so far. “You know what we said at the table. Any other time, any other year, and I would’ve been out there diggin’ two holes for you, no questions asked. But you know what we have to do. You know what we  _ can’t  _ do.”

He paused long enough to make sure Opie was at least hearing him before pushing on.

“Now, I’m gonna let you in there. I won’t keep you out of this. You know that. But before I do, you have to promise me you’re gonna pull it back when I tell you to.”

Opie dragged his eyes up from the floor to meet Jax square in the eye. Jax held his gaze, mentallly prepared to stand here like this, staring his VP down, for as long as it took for it to sink in. When Opie’s shoulders dropped and a little bit of that tension abated in his eyes, Jax clapped both hands on his shoulders and gave them a shake.

“I’m sorry, Ope. We can’t have bodies piling up left and right anymore and those two in there aren’t worth ending up in Stockton again for. Besides, we both know they didn’t come here on their own. So, let’s get that intel, and let’s do it without you ending up with cuffs around your wrists.”

He waited for Opie to nod, and after another look passed between them, they started down the hallway side by side, with Tig trailing behind them. Opie was still wound tight, and that was fine as long as he kept himself in check. Jax glanced at him one more time to make sure his VP read him loud and clear, and then he turned the doorknob to let Opie in first.

Happy had them sitting in two chairs in front of one of the desks, their arms tied behind their backs and a gag in each of their mouths. Jax had to hand it to Happy - he was fast and he was efficient. Jax and Tig flanked Opie on both sides, ready to intervene when necessary. Opie’s nostrils flared the second he locked eyes with the sons of bitches, but he didn’t move. He stood frozen to the ground, and when Jax turned his head to glance at him, he found Opie staring back at him, his lips drawn into a taut line.

Jax nodded. It was clear what Opie needed right now. If he moved, he might not be able to  _ stop _ moving. So Jax took a step forward instead.

“A’ight, fellas,” Jax started good-naturedly and flashed them a toothy grin. “We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way. Up to you.”

After a pause, he glanced at Happy and tipped his chin. Happy took his cue, gripped one of the guy’s index fingers, and yanked it straight up into the air until it crunched under the pressure. The guy howled in pain, but Happy didn’t react. Instead, he moved right on to the next one and did the same thing. With both men screaming in pain, Jax stepped forward as he dipped a hand into his cut for his cigarettes. He lit it, took a few puffs, and then held it out to Opie.

Opie’s eyes glazed over in a frenzy, and he snatched it out of Jax’s outstretched hand. The cigarette singed one of the guy’s cheeks, emanating another howl of misery as Opie dug the cigarette even deeper into his skin. Then he tossed the cigarette to the ground and started with his fists instead. Opie’s fists flew in a fury, each crunch smacking harder and harder with every punch.

Jax waited. He swallowed tight as he watched his VP wail on the men who’d been stupid enough to mess with his wife and...even just thinking about Lyla with her battered and bruised face, it was all he could not to step in and join him. This was Opie’s right, though. It wasn’t Jax’s place to step in and take over until it was time to rein him back in.

But finally, after a few minutes, it was clear it  _ was _ time to step in. He nodded to Tig, who took his cue and wrapped his arms around Ope’s chest to pull him back. Opie didn’t fight it, though, and he let Tig yank him off to the side and pin him to a wall just for good measure.

Jax scratched his head, grinning widely at the battered men tied to the chairs as he reached for his cigarettes again. He lit up another one easily and tossed his pack back into his cut. Then he sauntered forward as he took a long pull from the cigarette in between his lips. He crouched down to get a good look at the guy whose face was a bloody mess but had been lucky enough up, until this moment, to also not have a cigarette burn in the middle of his cheek.

Jax exhaled leisurely, blowing his smoke right into the guy’s face. The asshole coughed and sputtered, and Jax figured that was enough. For now.

“So,” he started again. “You ready to talk? Or are you good?”

He sputtered and coughed again, but this time, he told Jax what they needed to know. Jax listened carefully - it was what they’d already thought and then some. And when he finished spilling his guts like the rat he was, Jax sprung forward to dig his cigarette in.

“There,” Jax grinned broadly. “Now you match.”

* * *

There wasn’t much of a scene out in the parking lot, at least not anymore, so that was one thing to check off the to-do list. From what he could tell, the prospects had just arrived with the transport van and were filing out to head toward the studio’s main entrance like they’d been told. Piney was just pulling up next to the van - he’d obviously heard what had gone down today and was late to the party as usual.

Jax spotted Jimmy off to the side with his arms wrapped tightly around his daughter. A moment later, he reached out an arm to pull Lyla in right alongside her. He tipped his chin to Chibs, who took his cue and sidestepped around him to close the distance between him and Lyla. Now that things had mostly calmed down and the matter was just about handled, he needed Chibs to do what he did best and patch Lyla up as best he could. He hoped to God those assholes hadn’t gone near her stomach...for a lot of reasons. If anything happened to that baby, he knew there’d be no stopping Opie then. And that was one exception the club might be willing to make.

Jimmy saw him coming and waved him over, releasing Lyla long enough so Chibs could get to work, but he kept an arm securely around Allie, as if he couldn’t bear to let her go.

His fingers twitched at his sides as he approached them. Now, seeing her standing in front of him, in one piece and without a scratch on her, Jax finally felt like he could really breathe. And that weight on his shoulders lifted. He blew out another breath just to calm himself down as he let his eyes scan her from head to toe to convince himself that she was really okay.

She looked pissed, sure, but he didn’t mind that as much.

Still, he let himself put a hand on her shoulder. “You alright?”

Allie’s dark eyes flicked to him when his hand grazed her shoulder, and she watched him carefully as she nodded to him.

“Yeah,” she murmured. “I’m okay, Jax.”

He swallowed tightly, nodding more to himself than anything, and he let his hand slip from her shoulder. Then he turned his attention to Jimmy.

“You got anything on those security tapes?”

“The cameras caught them coming up to the building about an hour or so before all this shit started,” Jimmy told him, his face taut and then a long tick clenched along his jaw. “They were posing as marketing reps. They’d even been on my calendar for an appointment and when they didn’t show, I didn’t really think anything of it. They flashed IDs at security and it all checked out with what was on my calendar - I’m sure they were fakes, but fucking still.”

Jax nodded slowly and pushed out an aggravated sigh. So it was even more coordinated than they’d thought. His jaw clenched into a tight line, and his eyes flicked back to Allie long enough to see she was still watching him.

“Right,” he pushed out roughly. “It was Caruso.”

Jimmy’s head tipped back against his neck exasperatedly and he scrubbed a hand over his face. “Great. Just fucking great. I’m assuming you’ve got this handled?”

“He’s gotta special delivery headed his way,” Jax nodded. “That’s for damn sure.”

“Good,” Jimmy allowed.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Allie’s eyes narrowing, at  _ him _ , specifically. Jesus Christ - what did he do now? Just as his lips parted to respond, a loud voice bellowed:

“Sweet, you son of a bitch! This is how you take care of your girls, huh? You let them get their faces bashed in?”

Even though the old man moved like a turtle any other day, Piney launched himself at Jimmy with his fist cocked and ready to punch. His fist connected with Jimmy’s jaw before anyone had time to react, and Piney and Jimmy tumbled to the pavement in a mess of limbs and fists.

“That’s my daughter-in-law, you bastard!” Piney screamed. “She’s knocked up!”

Jimmy grabbed hold of what was left of Piney’s hair and yanked his head toward him. “Eat my dick, asshole!”

Jax and Allie launched forward at the same time. He had his arms around Piney’s shoulders, yanking him away so hard he practically fell to his knees. Jax was able to roll the fat bastard away long enough for Allie to reach down to the pavement to grab her dad by the shoulders. Jax saw it coming before it happened - his mouth opened to shout for Jimmy to stop, but he was too late. Jimmy, unaware of just who was behind him, reared his elbow back and caught Allie right underneath the nose. Her head jerked back as blood poured out from her nostrils.

“What the fuck, Jimmy!” Jax roared at him. 

By now, Chibs had scrambled away from Lyla to tumble into the fray and grab Jimmy by the shoulders to pull him away from Allie. Jax kept his vise grip around Piney’s chest, barely getting out of the way when Jimmy kicked out a leg to hit Piney right in the stomach.

“You see what you made me do, you crazy son of a bitch!” Jimmy screamed at him.

Piney jerked and thrashed under Jax’s hold and jabbed a finger at Jimmy. “Oh, you did that all by yourself, hot shot.”

“Everybody just shut up,” Allie’s low voice echoed through the commotion. Her voice was calm, sure, but it was laced with a lethal stillness that had the two men halting in surprise. She stepped forward, her petite frame looming in front of them with blood running down her nose. She wiped her nose with her palm, glanced down at the blood coloring her hand, and then sliced her furious eyes back to Piney and Jimmy, who’d both been stupefied into submission.

Jax blinked at her and found himself staring with his mouth slack-jawed. His hold on Piney slipped, and then Piney lunged at Jimmy again, only to be halted by Allie’s deadly still voice.

“What the hell is your problem,” Allie growled. “Rolling around the parking lot like a pair of fucking assholes. Fighting over something that happened years ago. And guess what? She dropped  _ both  _ of you like a bad habit.  _ Both  _ of you. And you’re  _ still  _ acting like big giant babies 20 years later over a woman who clearly doesn’t give a shit about either of you…you’re making this all about you, when you should be helping  _ her _ ,” she jerked a hand at Lyla, who was standing off to the side with tears in her eyes, “how is this helping, huh? How is this making anything better? And you,” her eyes dropped to Piney, who stiffened under Jax’s grip, “showing up here a day late and a dollar fucking short, blaming my dad like this is all his fault. I didn’t see him throwing punches at women, did you?”

She paused long enough to give Piney a chance to answer, wiping her forearm underneath her nose to catch more of the blood that dripped from it. Her dark eyes sparked fire and narrowed dangerously as more crimson moisture pooled underneath her nostrils.

It was terrifying. It also just might have been the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. Either way, all he could do was stare, eyes wide and open-mouthed.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Piney muttered under his breath. “You gonna let her talk to me like that, prez?”

“You think I’m gettin’ in the middle of this shit?” Jax huffed out a laugh and shook his head, tightening his grip on Piney’s shoulders just for good measure. “You’re on your own, old man.”

“Well, did you?” Allie prompted again, her chest heaving as she glared daggers at Piney. When he didn’t respond, she swiveled her gaze to Jimmy. “And  _ you _ . Telling him to  _ eat your dick _ ? Did you have a stroke or something? This is  _ your  _ property. This is  _ your  _ studio. Everyone is watching right now. What the  _ hell  _ are you doing?”

Well, Jax had to hand it to her. She had a point.

“You two need to pull your shit together and knock it the hell off. Nobody cares what happened 20 years ago.  _ Nobody _ . So, pull your big boy pants on and be there for Lyla. That’s your job right now. That’s what you need to do.”

“Honey, I’m sorry -” Jimmy tried, but Allie just shook her head.

“I really don’t care, Dad. I really don’t,” she wiped some more blood from her nose as she spoke and sighed heavily. “I’m gonna go check on Lyla, and then I’m going home. I am  _ done  _ for today.”

With that, she turned on her heel and headed straight for Lyla. She was still wiping the blood from her nose as Jax shoved Piney away with pointed instructions to fucking behave himself and then he jogged after her.

“Allie,” he called out to her. “Tilt your head back. That’ll help the bleeding.”

“Leave me alone, Jax,” she called back to him, but still, she did as she was told and tilted her head back as she kept walking toward Lyla.

“You alright? You need Chibs to take a look?’

She paused mid-stride, and turned on her heel to face him head-on. Blood dripped down her nose and she caught it with the back of her hand. “Does it look like I’m alright?”

His lips quirked and he had to bite down on his bottom lip to keep a grin from spreading across his face. If she caught him smiling at her right now, he might actually get slapped. She might actually punch him instead, if the fire in her eyes was any indication. And while he had some deep, depraved need to finally get slapped by her, he wasn’t real keen on it happening because of  _ this _ .

“Are you…” Allie’s eyes narrowed at him. “Are you actually laughing at me right now? You really think this is funny?”

Jax’s hands shot up in the air in defense. “It’s not. It’s really not.”

“Good,” she practically hissed and then she reached out to shove him in the chest. “Because none of this would’ve happened today if you would’ve listened to me. I  _ told  _ you not to push him. I  _ told  _ you not to make him feel threatened, and you didn’t listen. Look at her,” she gestured to where Lyla stood, with her face still bloody and bruised, “look atwhat happened to her today, Jax. It could’ve been so much worse. What if the baby…” Allie’s breath hitched in her throat and she inhaled shakily as if she was trying to swallow back some tears, “that shouldn’t have happened, Jax. It never should’ve come to that. What if Piper had been with her? What if…”

She trailed off again, but he knew what she’d been about to say. What if  _ she’d  _ been in that room? What if  _ her  _ face looked like Lyla’s? He knew exactly how he’d feel, how he  _ did  _ feel just thinking about it. He had to blow out a deep breath just to focus again and keep the red spots that colored his vision at bay. 

He gingerly rested both hands on top of her shoulders, and when she shoved his hands away, he just brought his hands on top of her shoulders again, this time gripping her more firmly to give her a light shake.

“Hey,” he murmured to her. The last thing he wanted to do was fight with her in the middle of this parking lot. This wasn’t the time or the place for this kind of discussion, especially not when there were too many eyes on them and too many Reaper cuts around watching to see how he handled her. And at the end of the day, he got it. He really did.

This  _ was  _ on him, whether he was willing to accept it or not.

“I know this was scary today,” Jax told her, crouching down a little to meet her more in the eye. “And I’m glad you’re okay. I’m glad Piper’s okay. And Lyla will be okay too. I can’t go back and change what happened, but I’m gonna make it right. You think you can get behind that?”

Allie stared back at him for a moment, her chest heaving even as another trail of blood dripped down her nose and landed right on her white shirt. She jerked her head back, and with her eyes to the sky, she squeezed them shut before sighing heavily.

“Alright, Jax.”

And for the first time in a long time today, he felt a genuine smile creep across his face. He gave her shoulders another quick shake before letting his hands slip away.

“So here’s what you’re gonna do: you’re gonna check on Lyla, like you said, then you’re gonna let Chibs check out your nose and let one of the prospects get you some ice. Then you’re also gonna let one of the prospects drive you home,” her lips parted to protest, but he didn’t let her cut in, “and then you’re gonna go home and relax and by tomorrow, your office will be cleaned up and it’ll be like all this shit never happened.”

A flicker of irritation flashed across her beautiful face, blood and all, and then, when she pushed out another heavy sigh, he knew he’d won this round, at least for now. And then, because he just couldn’t help himself, he pushed.

“So,” he threw out lightly, a smirk curving his mouth. “What, exactly, do you do at night to relax and unwind?”

Allie didn’t miss a beat. In fact, her dark eyes darted back to him to meet his challenge head-on. “I like to take baths.”

His breath choked in his throat, but he recovered just as quickly. Jax rocked back on his heels, regarding her with an appreciative smirk. Well, he hadn’t been expecting  _ that _ , but he’d also learned what happened when he underestimated her, and it usually involved something coming back and biting him on the ass.

“Is that right?” he tossed back at her.

She smiled tightly. “It is.”

“Well, I think that sounds like a great plan.”

Her eyes lifted to the sky again and she shook her head. “I swear to God, Jax, if you even  _ try  _ to touch me right now, I will  _ smack _ you in the face so hard...”

His forehead crinkled as he rocked back on his heels again to consider her offer, smirking at the way she stared back at him, daring him to call her bluff. 

Tempting. Definitely tempting. 

Jax opted to light up a cigarette instead, grinning back at her when she just rolled her eyes. He tapped two fingers to his temple in a mock-salute to leave her to it.

“Have a nice bath tonight, Allie,” he grinned at her over his shoulder as he sauntered away.

* * *

Compared to Sweet Productions with its expansive white columns, clean lines, and just overall expensive and well-cared for building, Lacuna Films was a complete shithole. The lawn, or what was left of it, was so overgrown it was more weeds than grass. The main entrance was just a door barely hanging on its hinges, propped open against the red brick wall with a chair. Anyone could just walk right in without a care in the world.

That’s exactly what they did.

Jax strode down the hallway with Opie to his left, with Chibs and Tig dragging their packages behind them, and the rest of the club trailing up the rear, and he was acutely aware that each room in this place was wide open. Moans filled the air, right along with the sounds of skin slapping against skin, and he glanced inside one of the open rooms long enough to see a woman face down on a bed and a man railing into her from behind. Of course, there was a camera two inches away from their faces to capture the action, and a few crew members standing off the side, watching with their hands in their pockets.

Needless to say, the atmosphere was a little different around here. Dirtier. Grimier. If they were lucky, they’d find their target soon, deliver his package, and then they’d be able to leave this place in their dust.

As they made their way down the hallway, a skinny guy in a hipster hat skidded into the hallway. He stopped short at the sight of the long line of Reaper cuts heading straight for him, and Jax grabbed the back of his collar before he could scamper away.

“We’re lookin’ for Georgie Caruso,” he told him a friendly enough tone, but leaned in just enough to stare into the guy’s scared eyes with menacing calm. “You think you can point us in the right direction?”

The guy stood frozen to the ground, stunned into silence, and when Jax shook him by the collar to snap him out of it, he lifted a trembling hand toward the one closed door down the hallway.

“He’s…” the guy stammered. “He’s... in there.”

Jax grinned broadly at him, clapped him on the shoulder, and then promptly pushed him out of the way. They closed the distance between them and that closed door in a matter of seconds. He didn’t bother to knock. He used his foot instead.

The door kicked out with hardly any effort on his part, and the man sitting behind a desk jumped. The guy definitely wasn’t anything to write home about - cheap suit, balding, gold chains around his neck. He was obviously overcompensating for something.

“What the hell?” Caruso spat out, but a moment later, recognition flickered across his face when he got a good look at the leather on Jax’s chest. “Shit.”

“Yeah,” Jax grinned and tilted his head to the side. “Shit is right.”

Chibs and Tig hauled the packages up to the front of Caruso’s desk and dropped them like a sack of potatoes. Caruso’s eyes flicked to the floor, where his two men lay in a crumpled heap. He started to rise from his chair, but Opie was on him before his ass even left the seat.

Opie shoved him back into the chair and held him by the shoulders. “Why don’t you have a seat.”

“Listen, I -”

“You know,” Jax started easily and shoved his hands in his front pockets. No one had their guns drawn, and he was hoping they could keep it that way. “I heard an interesting story today. This guy told it to me,” he pointed down to one of the guys on the floor, who’d passed out long ago from the beatdown Opie had delivered to them, “and I gotta say, I didn’t wanna believe him at first. It just sounded so fucking stupid, ya know? I mean, how could any  _ sane _ person think they’d be able to send two of their cronies into Sweet Productions, specifically targeting the wife of the MC’s VP who they  _ know  _ is partnered up with Jimmy Sweet, beat the shit outta her, and actually think they’ll get away with it. I mean, a  _ sane _ person doesn’t pull that kinda shit, right?”

But the longer they stood there, and the longer Caruso stared back at them in complete defiance, the more Jax realized what was really going on here. The asshole really  _ did  _ think he’d get away with it.

“Oh, I see,” Jax grinned good-naturedly, wagging a ringed finger at him. “You thought you were sending us a message. You wanted us to know you were here and that you weren’t gonna stand by and let Sweet Productions have any more success than it already has. Well, my friend, message received. We heard you loud and clear.”

He flashed Caruso another wide grin as he slipped a hand inside his cut for his cigarette pack. He brought one to his lips and lit it, taking a long pull as he tilted his head to the side, a slow smirk creeping up the side of his face.

“So, here’s what’s gonna happen,” Jax told him, smiling at the way Caruso’s eyes widened. “My VP here,” he gestured to Opie as he spoke, “is gonna rearrange your face for as long as he damn well pleases. That’s a privilege you earned, and there’s just no way around it. I think you knew that already anyway. And once that’s done, I think we’re all in agreement here that that should really be the end of all this shit,” and then he leaned forward to look Caruso right in the eye, his voice deathly calm, “because if you so much as  _ breathe _ in the direction of Sweet Productions or  _ any  _ of its employees ever again, we’re gonna come back here and we’re gonna burn every inch of this pile of shit studio to the ground. And if  _ that  _ doesn’t make its way inside your tiny brain, then we’re gonna find you and I’m gonna put a bullet in you myself. So, we clear, bro?”

Caruso blinked once as a bead of sweat dripped into his eyes. He inhaled shakily and nodded.

Of course, Jax had no intention of actually killing the guy, as satisfying as it would be. But Caruso didn’t need to know that.

With nothing left to say, Jax took one last pull from his cigarette and handed it off to Opie.

* * *

By the time he got back to the clubhouse, he was dead on his feet. It was a good thing they’d already sat down for church once already today because he wasn’t so sure he had the energy to do it again. All he wanted was something to eat, a beer, and his bed.

Jax sank down into one of the barstools and ran a tired hand through his slicked-back hair. Today was seriously the day that just wouldn’t end, and he was ready to turn the page on it. He felt it weighing heavily on him. All of it - that shitshow meeting with Dominic King, the call from Harrison, the shitshow at the studio and everything that had followed...it would be really fucking great to put it behind him, at least if only for the night.

A soft hand slid across his shoulders, and then a finger ran a light trail down his forearm. Jax squeezed his eyes shut and blew out a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, the tall blonde was leaning an elbow on the bar top, her eyelids fluttering a little as her cherry red lips curled back at him. It was clear there’d be very little, if any, work involved for him with this one. Then his gaze flicked to Tig, who was sitting about five feet away from him at the bar with his head in his hands.

Apparently, he wasn’t the only one feeling the weight of this day.

He flashed the blonde an easy grin and then tipped his head toward Tig. “Why don’t you go see about my boy, darlin’.”

The blonde just shrugged, probably figuring she’d get her turn with him later, and sauntered over to Tig. He watched just long enough to see the blonde wrap an arm around Tig’s shoulder, and then he snatched his beer off the counter and got the hell out of there.

A few minutes later, he settled back into a chair, letting his head fall back against the headrest. With his lips wrapped around a cigarette and a beer in hand, he wished that would’ve been enough to help him calm down. He blew out a long stream of smoke from his nostrils, watching the smoke curl and waft through the air until it disappeared over the side of the roof.

Tig might’ve been feeling responsible for what had happened today at the studio, and maybe a little of that was earned, but the brunt of this landed on his shoulders. Even if there’d been no way to predict how Caruso was going to react to them upping the security at the studio, he’d still been the one to make that call. Jimmy had just agreed and gone along with it.

It had been a knee-jerk reaction. Flex some muscle. Put the shitbird in his place. Send the message that they weren’t playing around. The way it had escalated was the exact opposite of what his intention had been in keeping more security there in the first place.

Lyla’s bruised and battered face flashed across his mind and he winced from the impact. Old ladies were supposed to be protected - untouchable. He fucking hated that they ended up as targets too. It didn’t have to be that way. It  _ shouldn’t  _ be that way. Opie shouldn’t be at home right now, holding onto his wife while she cried, cleaning the blood from the cuts on her cheeks and hoping they didn’t leave scars. They should be at home, enjoying a night together and making plans for their family.

As far as they could tell, though, the baby was okay. Lyla would be okay. And he supposed, at the end of the day, that was all that really mattered.

He just hoped what they’d done today had been enough. If Caruso was smart, he’d listen. He’d go back into that hole he’d crawled out of and they’d never hear from him again. But if he’d learned anything today, it was that the path of least resistance was usually the road not taken.

Caruso might be back. And then they might actually have to make good on those threats, at least one of them. He just hoped it never came to that. He hoped - and he felt like he was doing a lot of that shit lately - that they’d be able to find some other way. That if push came to shove, they wouldn’t have to resort to the violence they’d threatened.

Probably a lost cause though. You could shit in one hand and hope in the other…

He blew out another heavy sigh as his eyes drifted up to the sky. There was something he needed to say, and he didn’t think he’d even have a shot at getting to sleep tonight if he didn’t. So, before he could talk himself out of it, he flipped his prepay open, scrolled down to find her number, and hit send.

After two rings, she answered: “Hello?”

“Hey, darlin’,” he smiled into the phone, even though he knew she couldn’t see it.

Hearing her voice just felt good.

“Well, hello, Jax,” she replied. If he didn’t know any better, he could’ve sworn he heard some faint water splashing in the background. “What can I help you with?”

He grinned. He just couldn’t help himself. “Are you...are you in the bathtub right now, Allie?”

“Nope. You really think I’d answer your call if I was in the tub? And even if I was, I’d never tell.”

“Yeah,” he laughed easily. “That sounds about right.”

Maybe that was just wishful thinking on his part.

“Any noises you’re hearing right now are strictly coming from my living room. That cackling in the background? That’s Dan - he’s two hours deep into a  _ Golden Girls  _ marathon on Hulu.”

His lips quirked a little. “Whatever you say, darlin’. How’s your nose?”

“Ah,” she allowed easily. “It’s sore. I’m definitely going to have a nasty bruise, but it’s not broken, so there’s that.”

“Good to hear.”

“So,” Allie tried again. “It’s almost 10:00, Jax. What can I help you with at this hour? I really don’t think you called just to ask about my nose. Do I need to add an amendment to our terms of engagement that specify which hours, specifically, constitute as work hours for me and which ones don’t?”

“Well,” he shot back with a smile. “Seeing as though this isn’t the first time we’ve communicated outside of normal work hours, you’ve conditioned me to believe that if I contact you, no matter what time, you’ll respond. Now who’s fault is that?”

Her laugh reverberated through the phone and he found himself grinning at the sound. He needed to hear her laugh more often.

“I guess that’s true, but all those other times have been text messages, Jax. This is the first time you’ve called me. Is everything okay?”

Jax pushed out another heavy sigh. It was funny, they’d only been on the phone a few minutes, and already, he felt lighter somehow. More at ease.

“Yeah,” he pushed out roughly and ran his hand through his hair again as he leaned back in his chair. “Everything’s fine.”

“Okay.”

He could feel her hesitating, feel the question that was right there below the surface.  _ If everything’s okay, then why are you calling? _

_ Because I just wanted to hear your voice  _ didn’t seem like the right answer. At least, not an answer he felt he could say out loud. That would be pretty fucking ridiculous. Of course he hadn’t called just to hear her voice. It was an added perk, sure, and her laugh was a bonus he hadn’t counted on, but that wasn’t the reason why.

“I guess I just wanted to say that…” he trailed off, fumbling for the right words. “Everything that happened today, you were right, you know,” he let her sit with that for a moment before pressing on. “Maybe I couldn’t have known for sure what was going to happen - and maybe it would’ve happened anyway. But you warned me, and I didn’t listen. I should’ve listened. What happened today was my fault. It’s on  _ me _ .”

“Jax -”

“I know what you’re gonna say,” he smiled sadly. “You’re gonna tell me that I wasn’t the one who punched Lyla in the face, and maybe that’s true, but I was the one who led those guys there, wasn’t I? If I hadn’t pushed the issue with your dad, we never would’ve had the club there on security detail. He obviously found out about it, just like you said he would, and he also reacted exactly the way you said he would too. That’s on me.”

Allie sighed, and after a moment, he heard her voice again: “I understand, Jax.”

He nodded tightly, his eyes fixed out into the night sky. He  _ needed  _ her to understand. He  _ needed  _ her to really get it.

“Everything the club does now...that’s all on me. Before, I always had Clay standing over my shoulder, judging every little thing I did, and even if he wasn’t always right and even if sometimes I just wanted to clock him for not trusting me, at the end of the day, I always had that safety net, you know? Nothing I did and nothing I wanted made it to the table unless Clay brought it there. My VP patch was still second-tier, second-in-command, and I always had that fall-back. If an idea I had was really aisine or even fucking dangerous, Clay always knew when to pull it back. And now that safety net is gone. And I...if we’re really gonna turn things around, if we’re gonna be better, than  _ I  _ have to be better too, you know?”

She was silent for a moment, and then she spoke again, “Yeah, I know.”

Jax nodded again, satisfied with just hearing her say those words out loud. “I’m trying, Allie. I’m trying really fucking hard. And I feel…” he blew out a deep breath, unable to believe the words that were about to come out of his mouth, “I feel like I’m just failing miserably right now.”

When she didn’t respond, he pushed on.

“Ope might’ve beat the shit outta those guys and outta Caruso, but he really shoulda been throwin’ those punches my way too. I set Lyla up for that. I mean, of course Caruso was gonna see the club as a threat and go after the one person who was connected to both the studio and the club. I should’ve seen that coming. I thought as long as we had a body there, that would be enough. And it wasn’t.”

He heard her breathing over the phone, and now he just couldn’t stop himself.

“You know I can’t even find the guy who shivved Clay in Stockton? Clay might as well have been my dad...he was my president...and I can’t even find the guy who killed him. We had to hire a fucking private investigator because there’s just no sign of that piece of shit anywhere.”

“I’m sorry, Jax.”

He nodded again, a flicker of a smile crossing his face at the sound of her voice. “Nothin’ to be sorry about, darlin’. I might be failing pretty spectacularly right now, but I’m...I’m gonna try harder. I just wanted you to know that.”

He just needed her to know that he wasn’t a complete fuck-up, even if he’d completely fucked this whole situation up. He needed her to know that he was doing the best he could, even if his best wasn’t really good enough right now. He wished he could tell her nothing like this was ever going to happen again, but he didn’t really want to make her a promise he couldn’t keep.

And...saying the words out loud, saying that he was failing, it just made it feel all the more real. He really  _ was  _ failing. Maybe the club had the best of intentions in going legitimate and getting out of guns, but what headway had they really made in the last few months? They had the partnership with Jimmy in their pockets and a rental property they hadn’t even closed on yet. That wasn’t enough. It wasn’t even in the ballpark of being enough. Not to mention that both of those investments would take real time before the club ever really saw a return. They needed more and they needed it fast if they had a real shot.

“Okay, Jax,” Allie was saying now. “And for what it’s worth - I don’t think you’re failing. You’re doing the best you can with the information and the resources you have. That’s the best anyone can do. You’ve only been doing this for three months now, right? You’ve got the club pointed in the right direction. You just need to keep it pointed that way and I think everything’s gonna be fine.”

He had to smile at those words. For someone who wasn’t really around the club much these last few years, that was pretty naive. Too many things could still go wrong. Caruso could come back. They could start bleeding cash on these investments. They could have trouble actually  _ getting _ those investments, although now that Allie was involved, he had to admit the odds of that were less likely. They could get pulled deeper and deeper into guns before they really had their way out. The club could get pulled into an all-out cartel war if Darby really was hiding out in Mexico. There were so many ways he could fuck this up it wasn’t funny, and the stakes were higher than they’d ever been in his entire life.

But hearing those words from her - anyone else and he wouldn’t have even thought about actually taking them seriously. But she had no reason to lie. No reason to bullshit him. No reason to do anything but tell the truth the way she saw it. That was what she did for a living anyway, and the club paid her generously to do it. And even if she was only saying that to him because she was his lawyer, and because he paid her to tell him the truth, it mattered.

It really did.

“Thanks, Allie,” he murmured. “You have a good night.”

“You too, Jax.”

He swallowed hard as he snapped his prepay shut and slipped it back inside his cut. There was a part of him that wanted to keep her on the phone longer. There was also a part of him that figured she’d probably bill him for that time too. He’d probably deserve it.

And as he took a long drag from his cigarette, letting the smoke drift out of his nostrils in lazy loops, he closed his eyes and finally felt like he could breathe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for all your feedback and kudos! I really appreciate it - and it's good to know that you guys are enjoying this as much as I am!
> 
> Thoughts on the aftermath of Lyla's attack? For all his worries and self-doubts, Jax was sure acting pretty presidential in this chapter. And, not to mention the fact that this also led to yet another wall coming down between Jax and Allie. Anyway, I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this one! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Allie brought her coffee mug to her lips and inhaled the sweet deliciousness of her caramel macchiato. It tasted even better than it smelled too - sweet vanilla and caramel, creamy chocolate and bitter coffee. This was the stuff dreams were made of, and she wished she was able to treat herself this way more often.

It wasn’t often she was able to actually leave the office and get some work done elsewhere, if she wasn’t already at home, so this was a welcome change of pace. Tempest Coffee was bustling with customers, some staying behind to sit on their smartphones or laptops with their coffee, like she was doing, and others taking their go-to cups to go about the rest of their day. She’d always known this place was here in Lodi - she’d just never really got a chance to actually get here. It wasn’t that far from the studio, but she just never really had time for the detour, especially since it was a little bit out of her way.

But still, she wished sometimes that she could just slow down and enjoy life a little bit more. Lately, it seemed all she was doing was working or thinking about work, or checking her email to see if there was anything work-related she’d missed. But then again, she’d agreed to take on this extra work knowing full well that she was basically kissing her personal life goodbye. Right about now, her social life consisted of  _ Golden Girls  _ marathons with Dan. Not that she had any problems with that, it would just be nice to do things outside the house that weren’t work-related too.

Nothing had forced her to take Samcro as a client - except for, of course, the thought of her former step-brother getting a real shot at seeing his kids again. That had been low and it had been dirty, but it’d worked. No one with a heart could’ve told him no, and now here she was, sitting in a coffee shop, waiting for Jax and Bobby to arrive so they could head to yet another business meeting.

Tempest Coffee was one of the more popular mom and pop shops around the area. It was also looking to add a location in Charming.

Bobby had brought up this opportunity a few days ago, and she had to marvel at not only his ability to dig up these potential deals, but to make contact and set the meetings so quickly. He really seemed to have his finger on the pulse of everything that was going on in Charming - that was an asset that had to help the club in spades.

If Samcro could get in as a silent investor for this new location, they’d really be on the path to truly and fully going legitimate.

_ I’m trying, Allie. I’m trying really fucking hard. _

She swallowed hard at the sound of his voice in her head. His voice had been so rough...so vulnerable. There was a little bit of hopelessness in his voice too that had made her heart ache. And she believed him. She really did.

Yes, she wanted Opie to see his kids - she wanted that more than anything. And yes, she wanted the club to turn away from the danger and the blood and the bullets. That was just better for everyone and anyone who came into contact with them. But she also wanted that hopelessness to disappear from Jax’s voice. She wanted to see him succeed. She wanted him to feel like he wasn’t failing. Maybe that was easier said than done, but they were on the right track. And at the end of the day, she just wanted to help  _ him _ .

Allie didn’t know how to feel about that.

She lifted her head at the sound of a motorcycle pulling into the coffee shop’s parking lot, frowning when she realized it was just  _ one  _ motorcycle instead of the two she’d been waiting for. She glanced at the time on her laptop and shrugged. Jax had given Opie a little bit of a break from some of his regular club duties so he could be at home with Lyla, so it was just Jax and Bobby headed to this meeting. They’d been given strict instructions to show up at 11:45 for their noon meeting with the owners, and it was 11:34.

Still, when she saw a stocky, wiry-haired familiar figure push through the main entrance, a prickle of disappointment washed over her. Then she quickly shook it off. She waved Bobby over to her table, and he grinned widely back at her as he ambled over. He plopped down in the chair across from her and ran a hand over his wind-mussed hair.

“Hey, Allie,” he grinned. “Fancy meetin’ you here.”

“Well, hello to you too, sir,” Allie laughed. “I’m happy to see you here nice and early.”

“Hey,” Bobby leaned an elbow on the table as he spoke. “I’m all about a good cup’a coffee. There’s just nothin’ like it...anyway, Jax is on his way. He’s tied up with a call, and he sent me ahead so you, and I quote,  _ don’t get your panties in a twist  _ about us bein’ late again.”

She hid her smile with her coffee mug. “Glad to see he’s learning.”

Bobby laughed heartily as a waitress popped over to take his order. “And then some, sweetheart.”

After the waitress walked away with Bobby’s drink order, he leaned both arms on the table as he took in his surroundings. From the chalkboard menu, the acoustic covers playing softly in the background to the farmhouse table and chairs, it was cozy and inviting. Warm and comfortable. And just the kind of place Samcro needed to start putting some money into.

If they really wanted to be seen as legitimate, Bobby had reasoned, they needed to show the community they were in it for the long haul. That they were willing to invest in businesses that would help Charming grow and thrive. This wasn’t the same thing as putting money into a strip club - or a porn studio for that matter. 

This was a real, respectable business with owners who had a reputation for frequently donating to causes around the community as well as promoting everything from local diversity groups to the local school district. This wasn’t the type of place that required the kind of meticulous audit she’d needed to perform on Cara Cara or the strip club. Sure, she’d need to do a little digging just to do their due diligence, but she had a feeling everything here was up to par. This was the kind of place where the club needed to pitch themselves to the owner, not the other way around.

“Ouch, girl,” Bobby winced at her, gesturing to her nose. “That’s not a great look for you.”

Her fingers lifted to touch the bridge of her nose on reflex, and she winced a little at the contact. And here she thought she’d hidden it pretty decently with makeup today. That’s what she got for not enlisting Dan’s help. Even after almost a full week, the bruising had stretched to the corner of her eyes in hues of deep blue and purple markings - no amount of concealer could really do the job though, so maybe she couldn’t feel  _ too _ bad.

“It’s not  _ great _ , that’s for sure,” Allie allowed easily with a shrug. “My dad apologizes every time he sees me. Not like that will make it go away, but I guess I did appreciate the flowers and the promise to send me and Dan out for a nice dinner somewhere. I haven’t had time to go out to dinner anywhere that wasn’t for work in forever.”

Now that she really thought about it, she really hadn’t had dinner with anybody but Dan since...her eyes widened. She  _ had  _ had dinner with someone other than Dan recently. Best to swallow that one down and never think about it again.

Bobby nodded solemnly with a small smile. “Yeah, I’m sure your dad felt real bad about that. But, hey, now if anyone asks what happened, you can just say you got clocked by your dad and that should shut people up pretty quick.”

She laughed, despite the fact that that wasn’t really something either of them should be laughing about.

He glanced around again, almost conspiratorially, and gestured with his head toward the main counter. “Ya know, I gotta say, and don’t take this the wrong way, but this kinda place seems more your scene than…”

Bobby trailed off, like he’d just realized he’d said a little more than he intended.

Allie’s eyebrows lifted with a playful smile. “Than what? You can say it.”

He just lifted a shoulder and then leaned forward again to murmur, “A porn studio.”

“Ah,” she laughed. “Yeah, I get that sometimes. Just comes with the territory, I guess.”

Bobby nodded, a small smile curling around his face, and then he blew out a heavy sigh. “Yeah, I suppose I can see that. You always worked for your dad?”

“Pretty much. The club is actually my first client that  _ wasn’t  _ my dad. I guess, by the time I started law school, I already knew I’d be working for him and that was that. I never really even considered working for anyone but him. And, I have to say, that made law school just a teeny bit easier knowing I already had a job waiting for me on the other side.”

Bobby laughed heartily at that. “I can believe that. Where did you go to law school then?”

She narrowed her eyes playfully at him, and then closed her laptop, where she’d been working on Jax’s financial disclosure forms to help move the divorce along.

“Don’t you already know the answer to that question?”

He held up both hands with another laugh. “You would be right about that. We may or may not have run a background check on you before givin’ you a job offer.”

She’d figured as much, and she couldn’t blame them either. No harm, no foul.

“Well, UCLA is a great school,” Bobby shrugged. “Or so I’ve been told. Although, you started at USC, right? And then you left after two years and transferred to UCLA.”

Allie could hear the question in his voice. While UCLA wasn’t a bad school by any means, it wasn’t necessarily as good as USC. It wasn’t very often that people transferred from a private school to a public school either. But considering she’d given up a scholarship when she transferred, and was determined to pay for school on her own, a public school like UCLA was one she could reasonably afford. There was also the fact that, when everything was said and done, she’d gotten a strongly worded letter from the dean of students essentially barring her from returning to campus. Of course, that was after her transfer had already been processed, so it was more of a formality than anything. 

But there was only so much she was willing to tell Bobby.

“That’s right,” she allowed with a small smile.

Bobby was wagging a finger now as though he was remembering some piece of juicy gossip he’d long forgotten. “And if I remember right, you were in a sorority at USC, weren’t you? I think I remember Ope sayin’ somethin’ about that once.”

Allie pushed out a breath, chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, and then took another sip of her macchiato. At some point, she’d have to be able to talk about this, right? At some point, someone would bring something up from that time period in her life, and she wouldn’t feel like she was going to throw up. She was an adult, wasn’t she? A grown woman who could set aside emotional baggage at a whim. That part of her life had been compartmentalized into a tiny box and shoved up onto the highest shelf in her mind. Seeing as how she was so height-challenged, it was a rare day she actually reached for it.

“That’s right,” Allie repeated.

In this moment, Bobby felt safe. Probably as non-threatening as it got, too, at least given the current topic of discussion. He had no vested interest in this, other than for some good gossip. And, even though she’d only been around him a handful of times, she got the feeling he wouldn’t push too hard if she skated around the truth, which she was absolutely going to do.

“Wanna know a secret?”

His eyes flashed with excitement, and he mirrored her stance, leaning forward to hear her better. “What’s that, sweetheart?”

“I got kicked out of that sorority.”

Bobby reared back, his eyes wide and then he smacked his hands on the table. “No fuckin’ way. Why?”

She smiled back at him, even though she wasn’t going to take this much further. “I broke the code of conduct. That’s usually what it takes to get expelled. My hearing was a complete joke, too, because they’d all already made up their minds without even hearing my side. It was an utter and complete miscarriage of justice, if you ask me.”

Allie swallowed hard at the memory. She hadn’t been exaggerating either - the lack of justice in the circumstances that had led to her expulsion from Kappa Delta was almost unfathomable. At least now, with about 12 years separating her from the events that had led up to it, she could say she’d come that far.

“ _ Really _ ?” Bobby’s eyebrows waggled high into his forehead, like he couldn’t really believe what he was hearing. “What’d you do that was so horrible the Barbies threw you out?”

Allie grinned. “I’ll never, ever tell.”

She’d never told  _ anyone _ . And she wasn’t about to start now.

“And,” she jabbed a playful finger at him. “You, sir, are sworn to secrecy. If I find out that you told anyone in the club,  _ this _ ,” she gestured between them, “is over. Don’t screw it up, Bobby.”

His hands flew up in the air. The faint roar of a motorcycle engine echoed in the distance, and her heart clenched at the sound. Well, this conversation was as good a distraction as any, she supposed.

“I won’t say anything,” Bobby laughed, his hands still high in the air. “I promise. But...can I just get one guess? Pretty please?”

“You’ll never guess it, so I don’t really see the point.”

He really wouldn’t either. Allie couldn’t imagine a scenario where his mind actually found a way to conjure up what had happened. Sometimes, even she couldn’t wrap her head around it. That’s why she’d chosen not to linger on it, unless absolutely necessary - like right now - and just move on with her life. 

“Oh, come on,” Bobby laughed again. “What’d you do - show up high to a meeting or somethin’?”

Her lips curled ruefully. “I wish, but I’ve heard of someone getting sanctioned for that though. Pretty lame, don’t you think?”

Any way you sliced it, everything about sororities was pretty lame. The only reason she’d joined her freshman year was because she’d thought it would help her make some actual friends, as opposed to what she’d had in high school. As it turned out, the Kappa Delta house wasn’t real big on  _ true _ sisterhood.

“Sweetheart,” Bobby put his hand over his heart as he spoke. “I think gettin’ kicked out of anything for bein’ high is a complete travesty.”

“I agree, but that wasn’t it.”

“Hmm,” he stroked his beard in thought and she had to laugh. He looked a little bit like a slightly deranged Santa Claus with the crazy hair, wiry beard, ringed hands, and leather cut. “Well, I know it wasn’t because of your grades, that’s for sure. Oh shit,” Bobby’s eyes grew a little more serious, even as Jax approached their table, “did they find out about your parents and…” he curled his thumb and index finger together in one hand and then jabbed his other index finger through the ring.

Jax’s voice called out to them: “What in the hell is happening here?”

Bobby and Allie burst out laughing at the same time as Jax stood in front of their table, his hands shoved deep inside his front pockets and a frown written across his forehead. He didn’t look particularly amused. In fact, he looked a little perturbed to find them here, sitting at this table laughing.

“Don’t worry about it, prez,” Bobby just batted a hand at him. “Inside joke.”

Now, Jax rocked back on his heels in thought, his blue eyes darting between them like he just couldn’t quite figure out what was going on and what he was seeing. His eyebrows quirked into an even deeper frown at the words  _ inside joke _ .

“That’s right,” Allie laughed before turning her attention back to Bobby again. “And to answer your question, no, that wasn’t it either. Actually, some of them knew that about my parents and were more intrigued by it than anything.”

Bobby nodded in thought, still stroking his beard as he considered his options. “Hmm. Interesting. Oh no, wait, did you wear those Greek symbol things somewhere you weren’t supposed to?”

Allie laughed and shook her head. “That wasn’t a bad guess, actually. One of the girls I pledged with my freshman year was wearing a Kappa sweatshirt in a picture with a bunch of other people with red solo cups in their hands. That picture, of course, made the rounds on Facebook in about five minutes, and she was packing her bags a couple days later.”

He laughed heartily again and slapped the table, probably just to get more of a rise out of Jax. “I bet. Oh, come on, will you just tell me? This one,” he jerked a thumb at Jax, who was staring back at them with his forearms crossed tightly over his chest, “will have no idea what you’re even talking about. I’ll take it to the grave, I swear.”

Yeah, she planned on taking it to the grave too.

“I told you,” she just shrugged as she packed up her laptop and the few papers she’d had spread out on the table. “I’ll never, ever tell.”

“Sorority shit, huh?” Jax asked, his eyebrows lifted high into his forehead.

“Uh huh. You know,” she grinned. “Pillow fights and stuff.”

His eyes narrowed a little, but he still had a ghost of a smile on his face. Not that she cared. They had to put their game faces on for this meeting now, and she didn’t really need him poking around in something that had nothing to do with him. If he did find out what they’d been talking about, he just might dig. And while she’d made sure those records were locked up air-tight during her first year of law school, Jax didn’t need to be sticking his nose where it definitely didn’t belong. Which, of course, was exactly why Bobby had been the safe choice, and Jax was not.

But, still, it felt really good to be able to sit here and feel at least sort of comfortable talking about a microscopic part of this. It felt almost  _ normal _ too, mainly because there was safety in the knowledge that no matter how hard he tried, Bobby would never, ever figure it out.

“Alright,” Allie started again as she slid out of her chair with her laptop safely tucked away into her bag. She grabbed what was left of her macchiato, downed it, and gestured with her head toward the front counter. “You ready for this?”

Jax shrugged as Bobby trailed after them. He gestured for her to take the lead as they weaved around some of the tables, and she wondered if it was because he felt a little out of place here. Because, really, Jax and Bobby stood out like sore thumbs here in this coffee shop. They had smiles on their faces and nodded to some of the patrons as they passed, but that didn’t stop the nervous looks from coming their way.

If she didn’t know them, and if she didn’t know why they were here, Allie just might feel the same way too.

When they got to the counter, Jax and Bobby stayed behind her as she set her empty cup on the counter. 

“Hi,” she told one of the baristas. “We have an appointment with Mr. Benson at noon. Can you let him know we’re here?”

The barista nodded, her eyes shifted carefully to the Reaper cuts behind Allie, and then she disappeared through a back door to get the owner. As they waited, Allie glanced over her shoulder to find Jax inspecting the baked goods behind a glass partition. His eyes slid to her, almost as if he could feel her gaze on him, and his lips curved into a lop-sided grin that was enough to make her toes curl.

She found herself flashing him a quick grin over her shoulder, and then turning back to face the counter just in time for the owner, Xander Benson, to materialize from a room behind the counter. He ran a tired hand through his greying hair, and definitely looked worse for the wear, as though he spent his days and nights here in this coffee shop, with no personal life to show for it. She definitely got that.

His loose-fitting black dress pants and simple polo shirt with the Tempest Coffee logo sewn on the front were a far cry from the expensive suit Dominic King had been wearing. He rubbed his hands on his thighs to wipe something off them, and then extended a hand out to Allie with a weary smile in greeting.

“Xander Benson,” he told her. “I take it you’re Allie Levy?”

“Yes,” she smiled back warmly as they shook hands. “We spoke on the phone.”

But when Xander really got a good look at her face, his eyes darkened almost imperceptibly. He tore his eyes away to narrow them at Jax, who was already reaching out a ringed hand for Xander to shake. If Jax noticed the shift in the air, he didn’t show it.

“Hey there, Mr. Benson,” Jax told him with a congenial grin. “Jax Teller, and this,” he gestured to Bobby with his free hand, “is our club treasurer, Bobby Munson.”

Bobby and Xander shook hands as well, and once the initial meet and greet was over, Xander gestured for them to step around the counter to follow him down the hallway he’d just come out of a few minutes ago. He led them over to a closed door, holding the door open for them to pass through.

“Please excuse the clutter,” Xander told them as they ventured deeper inside the room, which was clearly his office. “All these expansion plans are making a mountain of my desk, if you know what I mean.”

“Trust me,” Allie laughed easily. “This is nothing. You’ve clearly never seen my office.”

Which, in light of all the excitement over at the studio within the last week, had finally started to feel a little bit more functional again.

“Yes, I’m sure an attorney such as yourself has a considerable backlog of paperwork on her desk,” Xander replied with a smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

She squashed the wave of uneasiness that hit her at that moment. Maybe he was just tired - he was clearly overworked and stressed out and it was perfectly understandable that he didn’t really have time for much small talk during his day.

“Well,” Allie decided to just cut right to it. She dropped into one of the chairs across from Xander’s desk and Jax followed suit, folding himself down into the chair next to her. Bobby, now chairless, opted to take his place at Jax’s shoulder. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with us today. I know you’re very busy right now with everything going on. Congratulations, by the way, on the expansion. That’s exciting news for everyone, especially those of us living in Charming.”

She shot Jax a quick glance and found him nodding with a friendly smile on his face. Okay, so maybe so far, so good. They just had to keep this meeting going.

“Right,” Xander smiled tightly as he sat back in his chair. “Thank you.”

Allie pulled some papers out of her bag and promptly handed them to Xander from across his desk. “As you know, the club is interested in becoming a silent partner in the new location planned for Charming,” she nodded to the papers in his hand, “you’ll see our proposal is very generous and would include plenty of leeway for both parties to amend the agreement as the business continues to grow. My clients are prepared to offer you a line of credit to help you cover any additional expenses that may come up, and they’re also interested in working with you on any community-based outreach you might be planning for Charming.”

That was more or less what they’d come here to say, and the longer they sat there in silence, the more she had to fight the urge to fidget in her seat. Even Jax shifted a little uncomfortably next to her as he moved to rest his elbow on the armrest.

“So,” Allie tried again, this time with as friendly a smile as she could muster. “Do you have any questions for us?”

Xander’s eyes hadn’t left the papers she’d given him this entire time. Finally, he exhaled exasperatedly and tossed the papers onto his desk. When his gaze sliced back up to them, all sense of cordiality had disappeared now. That air of neighborliness he was known for? Nowhere to be found. And her heart dropped right into her stomach.

“Alright,” Xander started, his eyes turning harder and harder the longer this went on. “You’ve had your fun. You roll up in here with your fancy lawyer with her fancy words and fancy paperwork, and you think that’s somehow gonna make me forget who you are? What you do?”

Allie’s eyes flew to Jax, who’d stiffened in his seat. He was leaning forward now with his elbows hitched into his thighs, and all the tattoos on his forearms on full display - that probably wasn’t helping. She’d expected to see steam pouring from his ears, but instead, he frowned. His shoulders hunched. His hands sat folded hopelessly in his lap.

“I’m sorry,” Allie shook her head. “There must be some misunderstanding here. We came into this meeting with you today on good faith - we were under the impression you were serious about considering us as investors.”

Xander just huffed out a laugh before leveling a hard stare right at Jax. “You could throw $1 million at me in cash right now and I wouldn’t take it.”

“Excuse me?” Allie pushed out roughly.

Bobby shifted tensely behind them, and from the corner of her eye, she could see the leather on Jax’s chest rising and falling at an alarming pace. Still, he didn’t move. It was almost as though he was frozen to the seat underneath him, terrified of what he might do if he did move. Bobby, it seemed, was following his president’s lead. If Jax didn’t react, then he probably wouldn’t either.

Xander’s lips just curled proudly. “You heard me, miss. I don’t think I need to repeat myself. And before you bother to ask, I agreed to this meeting to let you get this out of your system. You people need to understand that no amount of money, strong-arming, or blackmail is ever going to be enough to get me to agree to become partners with a bunch of thugs riding around on Harleys. When my new location opens in Charming, you are not welcome there.”

Jax pushed a slow, rough breath through his nose before nodding tightly. “Alright. We appreciate your honesty.”

Then he gestured to her with his head toward the door, signaling that it was time to get the hell out of here. Just as Allie grabbed the proposal papers back from him and turned on her heel to follow Jax and Bobby out the door, Xander’s voice rang out again:

“You know, son, you’ve got a lot of nerve showing up here with this woman all banged up like that.”

Jax’s steps halted and he swiveled back to glance at Xander over his shoulder, shoving his hands deep inside his pockets again. When he glanced at Allie, his blue eyes were hard and impassive. But the second his eyes swept over the bruising on her nose, his jaw clenched tight.

“I don’t care what you do behind closed doors,” Xander went on, rising from his chair now as he spoke. “But I don’t want that around my customers. We’re not that kind of establishment here. And I can’t abide by a man that would flaunt his handiwork around town like it’s some kind of badge of honor.”

Jax flashed him a bitter, taut grin with an even tighter nod as he rocked back on his heels. “I’m sorry you feel that way, Mr. Benson.”

He flicked his gaze back to Allie and gestured with his head toward the door again. “Come on, Allie. This was a waste of time.”

She started to follow him out the door. She really did. But she just couldn’t let this one go, at least not without getting the last word. That’s what she did for a living, wasn’t it? And that’s what the club was paying her to do anyway. So, she turned on her heel and faced Xander again head-on.

“You know,” she smiled grimly. “For a man who prides himself on supporting the members of the community and totes diversity and acceptance and social healing all over his business’s social media accounts, I would’ve thought you’d be the kind of man who’d be willing to look past stereotypes and give people the benefit of the doubt. For the record, Mr. Benson,  _ this _ ,” she gestured to the bruising on her nose, “is none of your business. But since you expressed your concern so tactfully, you’ll be happy to know that my client wasn’t responsible, but why would you care about that, right? You’d already made up your mind long before any of us had a chance to speak. Thank you for wasting our time over something that could’ve been handled with a phone call, but...you showed us, right?”

She paused long enough to see his eyebrows hitch up into his forehead, and then she followed Jax out the door.

* * *

He wasn’t quite sure how he made it out of that building without flipping over any tables. All the tables, all the people inside, they all passed by in a red blur. Somehow, though, he made it outside and headed straight for his bike with long, purposeful strides. The sooner he could get away from this place, the better.

His nerves were wreaking havoc right now, so he lit a cigarette as soon as he could get one in between his lips. Even that shot of nicotine wasn’t really helping. So he stood there by the curb, mindlessly exhaling long tendrils of smoke from his nostrils because he just didn’t know what else to do. If he hopped on his bike right now and sped away, he just might crash the thing because he was too keyed up to focus on any one thing right now.

Footsteps clicked and shuffled behind him, but Jax just stared straight ahead. He blew out a deep breath and then took another long pull from his cigarette because he had to. If he couldn’t get a handle on his shit within the next 30 seconds, he’d end up back inside that coffee shop, and then he’d probably find himself getting escorted out in handcuffs.

What the hell had he been doing? Thinking this was going to work? Thinking the club even had a real shot at this...what a fucking epic waste of time.

“Hey, prez?” Bobby’s hesitant voice called out to him, but he had to ignore it for now. He wasn’t quite ready to face either of them yet. “That was my fault in there - I was the one who brought this to you. This one’s on me.”

“Nah, Bobby,” he called out over his shoulder. “You didn’t do anything but your job, bro.”

Jax kept his shoulders squared with the curb and shoved his free hand in his pocket just to remove the temptation of punching something. What good would it do anything? He’d feel better for about two seconds and then all he’d be left with was bloody knuckles and a sore fist. Wouldn’t make anything better. Wouldn’t change the inevitable either.

And then his eyes dropped to his bike and his heart backflipped into his stomach.

Fucking front wheel was flat.

Of course. Of fucking course. It was lucky he loved his bike too much to kick it. 

“Aw, shit,” Bobby was saying now as he moved to stand at Jax’s shoulder. He crouched down to get a better look at the flat with his hands on his thighs with a grimace. “Whatdya think? Nail?”

“Fuck if I care,” Jax sighed. He flicked his spent cherry into the street, shoving his hands in his front pockets to maintain some semblance of control. 

Bobby shot him a sympathetic grin, knowing him well enough to know when to leave well enough alone, and he brought his prepay to his ear - probably to call into T-M to get a trailer over here to pick up his bike.

So now, to add insult to injury, he’d have to sit here until a prospect rolled up here with a trailer.

Bobby snapped his prepay shut and clapped Jax on the shoulder. “They’re on their way.”

Leaving him with about a half hour to kill in Lodi. Just fucking great.

“You know, Jax,” Allie’s soft voice called out from behind his shoulder. “I could give you a ride back to the clubhouse so you don’t have to wait. I don’t mind.”

He still couldn’t let himself look at her. If he did, he’d see that bruise on her nose. And then he’d have to reconcile the sympathy he was sure he’d see on her face. It was already seeping from her voice. He didn’t know if he could handle seeing it too.

“Nah,” he told her evenly. “I’m gonna stay with my bike.”

“Or, you know,” Bobby threw out with a goofy grin. “You could always ride bitch on my bike if you don’t wanna wait. Don’t worry, I’ll keep ‘er nice and warm for ya.”

Jax rocked back on his heels, finally letting a little bit of the humor in this situation creep in. He turned his head to flash Bobby a grin, and he allowed one, good laugh to shake his shoulders, but that was about the best he could do. He didn’t really have the energy to push it any further.

“As tempting as that sounds,” Jax grinned again. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary, bro.”

He clapped Bobby on the shoulder, who just shrugged. “You want me to wait?”

“Nah,” Jax just shook his head. No sense in making both of them stick around here any longer than necessary. “Why don’t you head back to the clubhouse - start roundin’ up everyone to get to the chapel. We’ve got a lot of shit to talk about at church.”

“Fair enough, prez,” Bobby lifted a shoulder as he reached for his helmet. He swung a leg over the side of his bike and revved the engine to life. Then he lifted his eyes to the sky in thought before wagging a finger at Allie. “Hazing?”

“No,” she laughed. “I would never.”

Huh. At this point, he didn’t even care anymore. They could have their inside jokes and their secrets. All he wanted to do was hole up into a corner of the clubhouse with a bottle of Jack and a pack of smokes. Was that too much to ask?

Bobby stroked his beard in thought. “Public intoxication?" 

“No!”

Her bright laugh bounced off the pavement, and despite everything, he found himself grinning at the sound. It sounded different than it had over the phone, a little bit clearer, a little bit more musical, and a little bit contagious. He figured it didn’t really matter why she was laughing - he was just happy to hear it.

And then, just as quickly as that feeling of lightness lifted him up, he crashed back down to reality again.

Bobby shook his finger at her again with a wide grin, and then he revved his engine again. “I”ll figure it out eventually. Mark my words, girl!”

He waved them off as he sped away down the street to head back to Charming and back to the clubhouse. So now, Jax really had no other options. The buffer was gone, and he had to look at her eventually. He really didn’t want to.

But his hands were tied.

Jax pushed out a deep breath through his nose and just couldn’t bring himself to do it. He took another step forward and folded himself down on the curb. Resting an elbow on his knee, he dipped his hand inside his cut for his cigarette pack again and lit up another one before he could stop himself. He really shouldn’t have been surprised when he felt Allie shift next to his shoulder as she lowered herself down next to him, careful to keep the hem on her red skirt below her knees.

And he still couldn’t look at her.

Before she had a chance to even try to speak, he snatched the opportunity right up from under her. If he didn’t give her the chance to bring it up, then they couldn’t talk about it, right?

“I remember what I was supposed to tell ya,” Jax told her, but kept his eyes trained on the road in front of him. “Your presence is both required and expected at the fundraiser on Saturday. Gemma was not pleased when you skipped out on family dinner last week.”

“I didn’t  _ skip out _ ,” Allie shrugged. “I’ve been playing catch up at the studio all week and I couldn’t get out of the office in time.”

Sure, she couldn’t. While he could admit there had been a lot of hustle and bustle at the studio since two of Georgie Caruso’s guys had paid a visit - two of the actors had up and quit and four of the crew members had threatened to walk out - so she really had been dealing with a mess. It was clear by now that Allie handled much of the HR and employment issues at the studio and Jimmy’s strengths were more in the creative and marketing side, but...that  _ was  _ a lot of shit to clean up.

Still, Gemma Teller-Morrow did not tolerate being stood up.

“Well,” he grinned. “All I’m gonna say is that if you don’t show up at the Taste of Charming on Saturday - with your roommate, too, by the way - Gemma is gonna hunt you down. I’m not exactly sure what she’ll do when she finds you, but trust me, she  _ will  _ find you and whatever happens after that won’t be pretty.”

“I guess you’re right…” she trailed off before shooting him a hopeful grin. “You really think there’s no way out of it?”

“I learned a long time ago that everyone is better off just towing the party line when it comes to my mother, and she takes that fundraiser pretty damn seriously.”

It was the one town event where the club could truly show up and participate in the community the way they wanted to. They’d been doing it for so long that no one batted an eye at their presence, or their sizable contribution. And Gemma spared no expense in making sure the club’s booth was fully stocked with the best food and the best drinks so it brought in the most donations.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Allie smiling at him, watching him, trying to figure out how to approach what had happened here today. He’d rather they didn’t. After a few moments of silence between them, her soft voice called out to him again.

“It was a big swing, Jax. We knew it might not pan out, and we missed. So now, we just move on to the next opportunity and then the one after that and the one after that.”

Before he could stop himself, his head turned to her and his eyes dropped right to that bruise on the bridge of her nose. His jaw clenched tightly, and he snapped his head away to face the street again, where it was safer, where he was less likely to see something that would make him jump up from this curb and start pounding his fists into a wall.

“Jax - “

“We don’t gotta talk about it, darlin’,” he cut in roughly, still keeping his eyes trained ahead. “I appreciate everything you did in there before, but none of it really mattered anyway.”

Because at the end of the day, men like Xander Benson would never do business with men like him.

“Jax,” Allie murmured softly. “I’m still sorry it happened. I wish he hadn’t done that.”

He just shrugged. What else could he do?

“It’s fine though, right? Because no matter what I do and no matter how hard I try, it’s never really gonna be enough. Getting out of guns isn’t enough. We’re always gonna be the thugs on the Harleys, running muscle for porn studios and strip clubs.”

And, it seemed, he’d always be seen as the kind of man who could do that to Allie’s face. And he was, wasn’t he? He was guilty of it. Maybe he wasn’t responsible for the way her nose looked right now, but had he squeezed just a little bit harder that time in the clubhouse, he would’ve left a nasty bruise on her wrist. He was capable of the kind of violence that would make a grown man wet their pants. 

The way he’d handled Georgie Caruso and his pair of idiots was just second nature. That was all he knew and all he’d probably ever know. It was the one language he spoke fluently and he spoke it whenever it suited him.

“Nothin’s ever really gonna change,” he pushed out roughly as he reached inside his cut for his cigarettes again. “That much I do know.”

They sat there on that curb in silence, watching the cars pass them by with Jax quietly exhaling smoke through his nose and Allie seated next to him with her chin in her hands. It was just easier this way - not to talk about it. Not to turn it into some kind of epic fight or bring it to the table to figure out how to burn Xander Benson’s business to the ground. He didn’t want that.

A year ago, maybe even a few months ago, he would’ve been on Xander Benson before he even finished talking, punching and strangling the words from his throat for even daring to speak them out loud. A year ago, he never would’ve tolerated anyone speaking to him that way, let alone speaking about the club that way.

Maybe it was the six months he’d spent in Stockton. Maybe it was the weight of the president patch sewn onto his cut. Either way, he knew now that beating Xander Benson to a pulp wouldn’t solve the problem. It would only make it worse.

And then Allie’s soft voice called out to him again.

“Were you guys serious about helping with the community outreach part of this or was that just part of the pitch?”

He frowned, flicking some of the ash from his cigarette before he finally let himself look at her again. Even with that god-awful bruise coloring her nose and stretching all the way up to the corner of her eyes, she really was something to behold. Soft, intelligent eyes. Just a touch of pink on her cheeks. An easy smile. A mind that was always working, always turning and turning.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

Allie just lifted a shoulder. “Do you really want to work more with the community or did you just want me to put that in the proposal to get him to say yes?”

He considered her words carefully - sure, the club had added that in there to help sweeten the deal, to show Benson they were serious. But had it panned out, they would’ve followed through with that promise, no questions asked.

“I don’t think anyone in the club would have a problem with it,” he allowed with a shrug.

Allie nodded slowly, her eyes still fixed on the road in thought. “Don’t take this the wrong way - and, because I’m your attorney, it’s my job to tell you the truth - but I think we all put the cart before the horse on this one. I mean, he was always gonna say no, right? Given the club’s reputation and  _ his  _ reputation, we could’ve walked in there with $10 million, and that was never going to be enough.”

“Yeah, well,” Jax replied, unable to stop the bitterness that crept through his voice. “We’ve thrown money at a problem before and usually have better results.”

“Right. And that’s because the problems you were throwing money at  _ before  _ were problems that could be bought.”

He cocked an eyebrow at her, and she grinned back at him with a shrug.

“You know what I mean,” Allie pushed on. “Maybe we shouldn’t have expected someone like him to take the club’s money, at least not right now. I guess what I’m trying to say is that there are other ways to solve the... _ image  _ issue the club has, if you will, without having to depend on other community members to be willing to work with you.”

Right. Because it wasn’t enough to want to work with them. They had to  _ want  _ to work with the club too.

“If the problem is people having an issue with where the money comes from - whether it’s a donation or an investment - there are ways around that. Plenty of businesses create separate LLCs strictly to funnel funds through so when they actually turn around and use the money for something, it looks like it’s coming from that separate LLC, not the actual business.”

His mind worked its way around what she was saying, and his lips curled into a grin. “That sounds a little bit like money laundering, Attorney Levy. I wouldn’t have thought you had that in you.”

“Well,” she laughed. “I guess that  _ is  _ how a person could launder money, if that’s what they wanted to do. But it’s not illegal if the money is coming from legitimate sources.”

Huh. Now he kinda got the impression she was onto something.

“So, people like my dad, for example,” Allie went on with a knowing smile. “Not exactly an ideal candidate for sponsoring little league teams and making friendly in-kind donations to the local elementary schools, right?”

Jax huffed out a laugh. “Right.”

“So what  _ he  _ does is contribute monthly gifts to an LLC that I set up for him - the funds absolutely come from profits from the studio, but like I said, it’s not illegal if the money is coming from legitimate sources. Then, he uses that LLC to cut checks every quarter to things like the Boys & Girls Club and the homeless shelter on the other side of town. No one bats an eye, even though they all know where the money actually comes from, because it doesn’t  _ look  _ like it’s coming from the studio, you know what I mean? When places like that have to list out their regular donors, Sweet Productions is never on the list. Money is money. And as long as the check doesn’t look like it’s coming from a porn studio, they have no problem taking it.”

His brow crinkled in thought as he flicked some more ash from his cigarette. “But people still know the money is coming from your dad, though, right?”

“Sure,” she shrugged. “It’s not a secret. And since the company on the check doesn’t say Sweet Productions, they can all claim ignorance whenever they need to. Some people call and thank my dad directly for the contribution and others pretend they don’t know where it’s coming from.”

He nodded slowly as everything she’d said swum around in his mind. “I’d have to take that to the table.”

“Of course,” Allie smiled. “There are some things you just can’t move past, you know? My dad is always going to work in porn. That’s just who he is and who he’s always been. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that either. I think he figured out a long time ago that the people who can’t look past that are the people he shouldn’t want to do business with in the first place. And, not only does he get the tax write-off every year, but he also gets to feel like he’s doing his part, even if he doesn’t always get the credit for it. If you’re doing it for the name recognition, then you’re probably doing it for the wrong reasons.”

His lips quirked up into a small grin. Yeah, he got the point. And he’d be taking that to the table too.

“Alright,” Jax smiled as he rested his elbows on his knees to get a better look at her. “But, since you’re my lawyer and we can say these kinda things to each other, you should know that the club needs to keep movin’ on these deals. It’s not just about having the legitimate cash to funnel into a shell corp or whatever that  _ really _ is,” he laughed when her nose crinkled up in defiance, “but the club  _ needs  _ the cash too. We need it to stay afloat just...in general, you know? I know you said we should take it slow, and you’d be right about that in any other scenario, but we can’t wait that long. We need the money, and we need to start getting it now. Getting partnered up with your dad and the studio was a huge start, and that retail building will definitely help, but that’s not enough on its own.”

“That’s information that would’ve been helpful to me, I don’t know,” she lifted an eyebrow at him. “Maybe a month ago. If I’d known it was that serious, I would’ve been more aggressive a lot sooner.”

His lips pulled apart in a wince. Yeah, that was probably true too. But that was also club business, and they hadn’t hired her to be their accountant. That’s what they had Bobby for - who knew the ins and outs of what they earned from guns, and exactly how much they were going to need to make up the difference to be able to not only survive, but be able to have actual lives too. They didn’t need a lawyer to help them do that, but, he had to admit, maybe they’d kept some of those details a little too close to the chest.

“We’d wanted to keep all that separate,” Jax allowed with a tight grin. “And don’t take this the wrong way, but nobody really thought you needed the details on our side business, if you know what I mean.”

“I guess that’s fair,” Allie replied softly. “I don’t really want to know either.”

He nodded again, dipping his head down a little. Another wave of silence washed over them before she spoke again.

“I can’t believe I’m about to suggest this, and I’m sure I’ll regret it later, but maybe…” she trailed off, glancing at him apprehensively. “Maybe we need to open negotiations back up with Dominic King.”

His lips parted to respond, but she jumped in before he could say anything.

“I know, I know. But if the club really needs the cash, and needs it quick, then you’re right. You can’t wait. And I get the impression, at least with him, that we’d have the upper hand in negotiations. He wants to partner with the club  _ bad  _ and there’s nothing wrong with using that to our advantage. I can’t imagine that we couldn’t negotiate a higher percentage of the profits or something along those lines too.”

Jax pushed out a deep breath. He didn’t like the idea of working with a guy like Dominic King, and he could see from the frown on her face that she didn’t really like the idea either. But then again, maybe guys like King were the kind of guys they needed to work with because guys like King were the kind of guys who didn’t hold it against them that they were just a bunch of thugs riding around on Harleys. King probably even saw it more as an asset than anything.

“So maybe,” Allie started again with a small smile. “And just hear me out - maybe we go back to the negotiation table with Dominic King. I don’t see any real reason not to go through with the audit, considering he actually provides me with the information I actually need to do it. And if that audit kicks up anything we don’t like, then we have our answer. And if any of those things are things we can live with, then that’s more ammo for negotiations.”

Jax chewed on the inside of his cheek in thought. “Yeah, well, I guess I don’t have to like the guy to work with him.”

“That’s true. And if we move on it, I could easily add some language into the agreement that makes it clear the club can pull out at any time or after a certain amount of time, if that’s what you want.”

He nodded slowly. The initial meeting with King hadn’t gone well, but this meeting with Benson certainly hadn’t gone the way he thought it would either. Now that he’d been on the other side of it, maybe he needed to think about giving King the benefit of the doubt. At least for now.

The club couldn’t afford to wait anyway.

“So, say we move forward and the club puts money into The Crown Jewel’s expansion plans,” Allie went on. “After a few years, once you’ve made your profit, you could pull out of the deal without any loss and probably without any hard feelings too. That buys the club more time to keep looking for other opportunities elsewhere that we can all feel a little bit better about.”

He had to grin. He might’ve felt like he was failing at every turn since putting on the president patch, but the one thing he’d done right - at least so far - was hiring her. That was one decision he’d never regret. With her on their side, and with her ability to think outside the box, maybe things were really going to be okay.

“And,” Allie was smiling now. “If the club chooses, I’d be happy to set up that LLC to help you start making some legitimate donations around Charming. I don’t see why you need to depend on someone else in the community for help with that. The club is already pretty deep into the Taste of Charming fundraiser every year anyway, and this really isn’t that different - it’s just a little more  _ official _ , if that makes sense.”

It did make sense. It made  _ a lot  _ of sense.

“You mean, the Taste of Charming fundraiser that you will absolutely be showin’ up for on Saturday?” he grinned at her, nudging her a little with his elbow.

Allie blew out a deep breath and scrubbed a hand over her eyes. “I guess.”

He was still laughing when a T-M truck with a trailer pulled up in front of Jax’s bike. He flicked his cigarette out onto the street, and then rose up from the curb. Without much thought, he reached down to hold out his hand to her.

Allie glanced at his outstretched hand for a moment before sliding her much softer hand into his calloused one. He pulled her gently up to her feet, feeling his chest tighten a little when her hand lingered in his for just a moment. Then she shocked him by slipping her hand from his and wrapping her arm around his neck to pull him in for a quick hug. He didn’t even get a chance to slip a hand on her hip before she pulled away and took a small step back.

“We’re gonna figure this out, Jax,” she told him with a soft smile. “Everything is gonna be okay if we give it a little time.”

His lips curled up in a smile. That was the best response he could give her right now. His senses were still a little shaken by the feeling of her soft skin against his neck and her body pressed up against his chest. It was only for a moment, but it was plenty long enough to know what that felt like now. As if he’d ever be able to forget.

“I should…” she glanced over her shoulder, where her BMW was parked a few spaces away. “I should probably get going.”

“Alright.”

She waved a little awkwardly as she turned on her heel, adjusting her bag over her shoulder, and headed for her car. It suddenly struck him that he was doing this a lot - watching her walk away from him. Watching her leave him in her dust. Watching her outsmart everyone in the room, including him, and then drop the mic and walk away.

Sooner or later, he wondered if he’d ever get the courage to reach out and pull her back to him. Probably a waste of time even thinking about it. 

Why would someone like her ever want anything to do with a guy like him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for all the feedback and kudos! I so appreciate it! 
> 
> Thoughts on this chapter? They really took a big step forward in this one in terms of trusting each other and really working together as a team. I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts!


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Jax let some smoke pillow out from his nostrils as he kicked his legs out in front of him. He’d been waiting at this picnic table for a few minutes now, but he expected Harrison to be right on time. He’d never been late with a call or with just about anything he’d promised so far, and Jax didn’t anticipate he’d start now.

Harrison had been south of the border for the last week or so, running intel and interference on his contacts and tracking down any leads he could to nail down whether Darby was really holed up in some bunker in Mexico or if it was just a rumor. Now, he was ready to deliver, whatever that was.

As much as he hated to admit it - and he’d definitely never admit it out loud - at this point, he almost wished Darby was just dead and buried in some hole in Mexico. It wouldn’t be the retribution the club wanted, or the closure Gemma needed, but it would be over. They’d have their answer, they would’ve found him, and then they could all move on knowing he was right where he belonged, even if they hadn’t been the ones to put him there.

More violence on the horizon was not going to be good for the club, especially since he had a bad feeling Caruso wasn’t just going to roll over and play dead. This could all blow up in their faces pretty quickly, and one less thing to worry about wouldn’t hurt anyone either.

When a familiar black Trans Am pulled into T-M’s parking lot, Jax flicked his cigarette out onto the pavement. He pushed off the picnic table just as Harrison slid out of his car and headed straight for him.

“Hey, bro,” Jax greeted him with a grin as he held out his hand. 

Harrison shook his hand with that same firm handshake he remembered. “Hey, Jax. Good to see you again.”

Judging by the solemn expression on his face, their PI did not have good news to bring them. So, Jax just gestured with his head toward the clubhouse. Harrison didn’t miss a beat and fell into step with him as they headed for the clubhouse’s main doors.

“Tell me ya at least got some decent tequila while you were down there,” Jax grinned as they pushed through the double doors.

“Hey, man, I don’t drink while I’m on the job, alright?” Harrison laughed. “I get in and I get out, especially when there’s a cartel potentially involved.”

Jax just laughed and lifted a shoulder, gesturing toward one of the tables where most of the club was waiting as he spoke, “I guess I can’t blame you there.”

Harrison was still chuckling when Jax clapped him on the shoulder and pulled out a chair at the table. Opie and Juice were already seated at the table, leaving room for Jax and Harrison to take their places, with Chibs, Bobby, and Happy crowding around the sides so they could hear.

As soon as he was seated, Harrison didn’t waste any time before pushing a manila folder across the table to Jax. He nodded, signaling that Jax could flip it open, and when he did, his eyebrows leapt into his forehead. The photos were grainy at best, but the evidence was clear: Darby was alive and well in Mexico. Or at least, he  _ had  _ been when these pictures were taken.

“I tracked him to the Rivera cartel. They were holding him in a bunker just outside of Tijuana, so I guess the good news here is that he wasn’t as far deep beyond the border as I thought he was.”

“What do you mean they  _ were  _ holding him?” Juice asked, a deep frown creasing his forehead.

“They moved him,” Harrison explained grimly. “From what I can tell, they weren’t keeping him prisoner. It looked like a safe house more than anything, and they moved him a couple of times while I was tracking him down there. I have reason to believe he’s back in the States now though.”

It was right on the tip of Jax’s tongue to ask why in the hell Harrison was sitting here with them in Charming right now, but then he remembered how Harrison operated - if they wanted more intel, they’d have to pay him first. That was fine. The guy needed to earn a living too, and the sooner they paid him, the sooner he could get back to work.

“Any ideas on where he is?” Jax asked, careful to keep his voice even and calm. They needed their PI motivated and eager to earn his money.

“I think he’s back in Cali,” Harrison allowed, but Jax could tell he was playing this one close to the chest. “I wish I could tell you what the hell he’s doing with the Rivera cartel, but I haven’t been able to pin that down yet. As far as I can tell, he doesn’t have any clear connections to them, unless one of his other contacts do and set him up with some protection. If I had to guess, that’s probably what we’re seeing here. I can’t think of any other reason your guy would’ve hooked up with them.”

Jax nodded slowly as all that sunk in. Yeah, Harrison was probably right about that. Darby was a lot of things, but he’d never been in bed with a cartel before now. At least, as far as they knew. It was more likely someone Darby knew and trusted had a contact within the Rivera cartel, had called in a favor or three, and now he was under their protection. And if that was true, extracting Darby from a cartel was going to be complicated and dangerous as fuck.

He tipped his chin to Juice, and Juice didn’t hesitate, sliding an envelope filled with cash over to Harrison, who slipped it into his front pocket without as much as a glance at the contents.

“Unless you’ve got anything else right now, you can consider this conversation our go-ahead to keep working,” Jax nodded to Harrison tightly. “Good work - this is the first hit we’ve gotten on him in months. At least we know the fucker’s still alive.”

“Yeah,” Harrison shrugged as he rose to his feet. “And if he’s under their protection, he’s probably gonna stay that way. At least for awhile.”

That was probably true too. At least it was something, which was better than what they’d had before. And he’d be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t a little disappointed the intel in that folder Harrison had given him wasn’t death records and pictures of Darby’s dead body. That would’ve saved the club a lot of trouble and money, but here they were. Still after him. At least now they had some information.

He clapped Harrison on the shoulder before tipping his chin to Opie, “Why don’t you track down your old man and get everyone into the chapel?”

As Opie left to hunt down Piney, Jax turned his attention back to Harrison. “A’ight, bro. You did what you came here for, and now you need some fuckin’ tequila. I can’t imagine tailing a cartel was exactly your idea of a good time - work-related or not - and I’m just glad none of us had to pull that kinda shit. Get your ass over to that bar and have yourself a shot or two on us, a’ight?”

Harrison shook his head with a laugh, his dark eyes glinting a little bit at the half-dressed croweater who sidled up next to him at the bar. Jax tipped his chin to her too, signaling that her job was to keep their PI company for the time being. Hell, Jax wouldn’t have any problems with Harrison taking her back to one of their spare rooms in the clubhouse if that’s what he wanted to do. The guy definitely looked worse for the wear, and he figured tailing a cartel in Mexico would do that to a person.

He threw Harrison a mock-salute as he trailed after Happy and Chibs inside the chapel. If they were lucky, the next time they saw their PI, he’d have a definite location on Darby nailed down and they could just get this over with.

Jax waited until Opie meandered into the chapel with Piney on his heels before pounding the gavel to start church. They’d already met yesterday to break down how the meeting with Xander Benson had gone down, but he’d kept his conversation with Allie after the fact to himself for the time being. He’d needed to give himself some time to really wrap his head around everything she’d said - not to figure out if she was right, but mainly to make sure he fully understood everything she’d said before bringing it to the table. If he explained it the wrong way and then had to either backtrack or explain to Allie that he’d royally fucked it up, there’d just be no living with her after that.

He could see her rolling those dark eyes at him in his head now, and he had to bite back a grin at the thought. This wasn’t the time or the place for that right now.

“Alright,” Jax sighed. “I don’t think there’s much more that can be said about the intel we just got on Darby. Maybe the smart thing to do here is to start thinking about what the hell we do if he’s still under the cartel’s protection here, but we don’t know that for sure. Until we do, I think we’re putting the cart before the horse on this one.”

He waited until he saw a round of heads nod, and then pushed on.

“I know we went over that meeting with Benson already, but I think we gotta talk about how to move forward now that that’s off the table. I was talkin’ to our lawyer after the meeting, and she had some good ideas that I think might help our path forward,” Jax told them before digging into his cut for his cigarettes. He lit one up, took a long pull, and then continued, “she thinks we should keep negotiations open with King, at least for now. So, she goes ahead with the audit, we see what she can dig up, and if there’s anything in it that we need to draw a hard line over, we kill the deal and move on. If it comes back clean, or at least, clean enough, then we move forward.”

Bobby stroked his beard in thought, nodding to himself. “She got any feelings on where that’s all gonna land?”

“Don’t know,” Jax just shrugged. “I don’t think there’s any real way to know until she starts diggin’.”

“Well,” Tig threw out lightly. “That’s what we hired her to do, isn’t it? I say let her dig. She obviously did a helluva job combing through Cara Cara. Let’s see what she comes back with on King.”

“And,” Jax added. “It goes without saying that Dominic King is fuckin’ prick. I think we’re all clear on that. I don’t particularly like the idea of gettin’ in bed with a guy like him, but right now, I’m not sure we have any other options, as long as everything checks out. Allie said she could put some terms into our partnership agreement that we can pull outta the deal whenever we want or, after a certain length of time, whatever we want. I think that sounds like a good play too, if it comes to that.”

Opie nodded tightly. “Yeah, I think we’d have to have somethin’ like that in there. I don’t know if I’d feel good about it if it didn’t.”

“Alright,” Jax nodded to the table. “I don’t think we gotta vote on this right now. We can bring it back to the table when we know what that audit comes back with. Now, the other thought she had was a little outta the box, at least for us, but I wanted to bring it to the table anyway because I think it could work. If we really wanna change the way people in town see us, we gotta start making those changes now or...well, nothin’s really gonna change. The Taste of Charming fundraiser gets us a lot of goodwill, but that only happens once a year and we gotta do more than that. We can’t exactly go around to places like the YMCA and all the schools and drop off checks from the club though, right?”

A round of chuckles made their way around the table, and Jax grinned back at them.

“Jimmy’s in the exact same boat as us. It’s not like anyone’s gonna want a check that says Sweet Productions on it for the local Boy Scouts troop.”

“You mean to tell me,” Tig deadpanned, “that those fuckin’ boy scouts don’t wanna take pussy money to pay for their canoe lessons?”

Jax huffed out a laugh, along with the rest of the table, and then he took another long pull from his cigarette before pressing on. “So, what Jimmy does is put some money once a month in an LLC that Allie set up for him. Then, when he wants to make that donation to those fuckin’ boy scouts for their canoe lessons, the check looks like it’s coming from that LLC, not a porn studio.”

“I guess it’s really about optics, isn’t it?” Bobby threw out easily. “All those places he donates to every year probably have no real issues about takin’ his money since the name on the check says somethin’ else.”

“Right,” Jax nodded with a grin. “So, I’m thinkin’ we start doin’ the same. People around town are gonna know the checks are really comin’ from us. Some won’t care and will be happy to have the donation - and that’ll go a long way in helpin’ them see us differently. And the ones that do care will still take our money, so then everyone still wins, right?”

“Jesus Christ,” Chibs laughed. “Look’a us - makin’ plans to go around town, droppin’ off checks like a bunch’a scruffy Santa Clauses.”

“I think it’s exactly what we need to do,” Opie grinned at him from across the table. He glanced pointedly at Piney, who just batted a hand in the air.

“Whatdya want me to say?” Piney huffed. “The gash is smart. There I said it. She’s still got a fuckin’ mouth on her.”

Jax felt his eyes narrow and his jaw tighten, and he clenched a fist underneath the table just to make sure no one could see the way he’d reacted. Luckily enough, Opie did all the reacting for him, and rightfully so, at least where his former step-sister was concerned.

“Knock it off, Pop,” Opie shot him a hard glare. “She’s our lawyer, not a gash. I don’t wanna hear you say that shit again at this table or anywhere else. From what I heard, you had that comin’ to you and then some for actin’ like an idiot. So, don’t be an idiot, Pop, and don’t make you me lay you out for talkin’ shit about my sister like that.”

Piney rolled his eyes and held a hand in the air in surrender, but not before muttering, “She’s not your damn sister, but who’s keepin’ score?”

Jax chose to let that one just roll off him. There was no point in dragging this out any further - Piney was who he was, and none of them were ever going to change that. Best to just get down to business so they could adjourn and get back to their day.

“So, we wanna vote on this one, or what?”

After a round of nods, and then a round of votes, all in the affirmative - including Piney - Jax pounded the gavel with a grin.

* * *

That grin, however, didn’t follow him out into the parking lot. He knew he needed to bring Gemma up to speed, that she deserved that much, but that wasn’t going to make it any easier to bring her this news. She wanted Darby’s head on a platter, and she was not going to be happy to learn he was still evading them at every turn, even now that they had a private investigator in the mix.

Still, he managed to put a smile on his face when he stuck his head into her office in the shop.

“S’up, Ma.”

Gemma glanced up from where she stood behind the desk with a hand hitched on her hip. She had some invoices in her other hand, and judging by the exasperation written on her face, she was already pretty damn stressed. Maybe now wasn’t the right - 

“What, Jackson?” she called out to him.

Jax pushed out a deep sigh and ran a hand through his hair, pushing back a few strands that had fallen out of place. Well, it was probably now or never, or - until she forced it out of him. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was within earshot and shut the office door behind him. With his back leaning into the door behind him, Jax lifted his eyes carefully from the floor to meet his mother head-on.

“We met with the PI today,” he told her as gently as he could.

Gemma shifted on her high heels, her face hardening a little. “And?”

“And,” Jax pushed out roughly as he shoved his hands deep inside his pockets. “He’s alive. That much we know. Harrison tracked him down to Mexico - he thinks a cartel is protecting him.”

Gemma inhaled sharply and then slowly sunk down into the chair at her desk. Her shoulders slumped and the dejection on her face - Jax had to swallow back the lump in his throat just at the sight of it. “Jesus Christ. Are you shittin’ me?”

“I wish, Ma. I wish.”

She tossed a hand in the air. “So what the hell are you gonna do now?”

He just lifted a shoulder. “We’ve got Harrison still on it. He’s workin’, Ma, and honestly, if he got this far, and was able to nail him down this way, I don’t see why he couldn’t find him now, even if they keep movin’ him around.”

Gemma nodded tightly, and he hoped that would be enough for now. He wasn’t quite sure if he believed his own words, but as long as Gemma did, then maybe it really would be enough. At least enough to buy them some time. Because the more he wrapped his head around it, the more it seemed like a half-brained idea to even  _ try  _ to get Darby away from the Rivera cartel. He figured it didn’t matter which one - it could’ve been any cartel, and he’d feel the same. They needed to piss off a cartel like they all needed holes in their heads.

Maybe he could convince the club, and Gemma, that surveillance was enough for now. Keep Harrison on the scent, keep him working for them for as long as they could afford him, and hope against hope that sooner, rather than later, the cartel would move Darby somewhere he was easier to get to.

“Alright,” Gemma allowed and flashed him a tense smile. “Thanks for tellin’ me.”

“‘Course, Ma. You know I wouldn’t keep you outta the loop on this one.”

“I know, baby,” she nodded, before swallowing hard and rising from her chair with her arms outstretched to him. He met her in the middle, closing his arms around her waist to pull her in tight, to give her the comfort she needed. What more could he do for her right now?

“I wish this was better news,” he told her as he lifted a hand to her cheek. “But it’s all we got right now.”

“I know, baby. I know. I just wish...I wish there was more I could do.”

“All you gotta do is heal, okay, Ma?” he told her with a soft smile. “You know that’s what he’d want.”

She lifted her eyes to the ceiling and shook her head at him with a little exasperation. Was it so terrible to remind her that she had to live her life too? While she was entitled to grieve as long as she damn well pleased, Jax didn’t want to see her grieving forever. And neither would Clay.

“You know,” he figured he might as well give it a shot. “Bobby just got an invite from Jimmy today for Lyla’s first wrap party. You should come.”

“Wrap party?” Gemma frowned. “I thought she was on some kind of leave?”

“I think it’s all sorta...relative, I guess,” Jax shrugged easily. “Allie got her in as a writer at the studio, but she filmed some scenes before she found out she was knocked up.”

“Allie got her in as a writer, huh?” Gemma nodded with approval. “Good for Lyla.”

At this point, he could see exactly what she was doing. Repeat everything he said, then deflect and change the subject so they didn’t have to keep talking about whether she would end up at Lyla’s wrap party. There was still time to strong-arm her into coming. While she might believe she always knew what was best, in this particular scenario, Jax knew better. She needed to start living her life again at some point, and there was no better place to start than a wrap party for porn.

“Right,” he shot back with a knowing grin. “Good for Lyla.”

Gemma’s face turned more serious now. “How’s she doin’?”

“I think about as well as can be expected,” Jax just lifted a shoulder. “They’re letting her work from home until she feels comfortable comin’ back to the studio. I don’t know when that will be, but at least she can still earn her paycheck until she’s ready to go back.”

“I should stop by the house again,” Gemma nodded, more to herself than anything. “I’ll whip up some food, bring it over there - then I can check in on her too.”

Jax shot her an easy grin. “I’m sure Ope and Lyla would appreciate that, Ma.”

Now, Gemma hitched a hand on her hip again, regarding him with a slight smile curving up the side of her face. “You know, I don’t tell you this enough, but I’m really proud of you, Jackson.”

His eyebrows jumped high into his forehead even as she huffed out a laugh and batted a hand at him.

“Don’t look so surprised, baby. I’ll admit - I was worried as hell when you got outta Stockton. Things just weren’t right with you. Everybody could see it. And then all that shit with Wendy...I wasn’t sure you were ever gonna bounce back from all that. You just seemed like you were goin’ through the motions, moving from one point to another like a robot or somethin’. And now,” Gemma grinned at him proudly. “Now, look at you, baby...comin’ into your own, wearin’ that president patch like the badge of honor it is, livin’ your life...baby, you seem  _ happy  _ for the first time in...I don’t even know how long.”

Jax shifted from one foot to the other, feeling more than a little uncomfortable with that kind of praise, especially coming from his mother. “Jesus, Ma. I’m not sure if I should take that as a compliment or be a little offended.”

“Oh, shut up, Jackson,” Gemma laughed. “Don’t be like that. You know what I mean. I’m glad to see you took my advice - not just about Wendy, but everything else too. You deserve to be happy, Jax, and to have a good life. I’m glad to see you’re finally startin’ to reach for it.”

He rocked back on his heels as he chewed on the inside of his cheek in thought. “Not sure I really know what you’re talkin’ about.”

Gemma just tilted her head to the side and took him by the chin, tugging on his whiskers. “Whatever you say, baby.”

Something in the parking lot caught her eye, and Gemma’s face lit up - a little bit too mischievously for his liking, and Jax turned his head to see Allie getting out of her silver BMW coupe. He didn’t like the way his heart clenched just at the sight of her - and here she was, standing on the pavement in a form-fitting cream dress that hit right below her knees, with a black leather belt cinched around her tiny waist and highlighting those slim curves. As usual, she wasn’t showing much skin. The sleeves ended at her elbows, showing off her delicate forearms, and the cut of her dress was still pretty conservative, but hit into a wide V, putting her collarbones, and just a hint of her shoulders, on full display. Her curly dark hair kissed the tips of her shoulders, and she tucked some of it behind her ear as she adjusted her bag over her shoulder.

What a fucking sight for sore eyes.

“You know she was comin’ today?” Gemma’s voice called out, startling him out of his revelry.

“No,” Jax rocked back on his heels again. “I did not.”

“Huh,” Gemma hitched a hand on her hip as she watched Allie punch something into her phone.

Two seconds later, Jax’s prepay buzzed in his cut. He yanked it out of his inside pocket, even though he already knew who was on the other end, and flipped it open to see her text:  _ In the parking lot. I’ve got a present for you. _

Now  _ that  _ was interesting. His lips curled into an easy grin as he shot her a quick text to let her know he was in the office. 

“What?” Gemma called out to him again.

Jax’s head jerked up at the sound of her voice and found his mother watching him with even, impassive eyes. Her hawk-like glint scared the shit of him sometimes.

She shifted on her heel impatiently and pushed out a huff. “You tell her about Saturday?”

“I told her about Saturday, Ma.”

“Well, is she gonna come?”

“I’m pretty sure.”

“What do you mean, you’re pretty sure? Is she comin’ or not? And she’d better be bringin’ that roommate. I can’t wait to meet that guy.”

Jax pushed out a rough sigh and scrubbed his face with his hands. “I’m sure she’ll be there. And I’m sure she’ll bring her roommate as requested.”

“Alright,” Gemma groused as they watched Allie approach the outside of T-M’s office and wave at them a little awkwardly. “I’m still not happy ‘bout her skipping out on family dinner last week.”

“Cut her some slack,” Jax shrugged. “She’s gotta lot on her plate right now.”

This time, Gemma cocked a knowing eyebrow at him with a hint of sly smile. “Okay, Jax. Don’t get so touchy.”

He rolled his eyes to the ceiling and was still shaking his head when he swung the office door open so Allie could pass through. Gemma was on her like white on rice before he could stop it. She pulled Allie into a quick hug, then pulled back to get a better look at her outfit.

“Good to see you, sweetheart,” Gemma smiled down at her. “And I gotta say, you look like a million bucks today. Now, please tell me you’re gonna be makin’ an appearance at the fundraiser on Saturday. I put us down for six volunteers, so we’ll be short if you leave us hangin’ now.”

Allie’s eyes widened in surprise, and Jax had to grin at the way her eyes frantically sought his for some help. “I, uh...I’ll be there, Gemma. Don’t worry. I’m really sorry I couldn’t make it to dinner last week, too. I wanted to be there, but work has been really crazy lately.”

“Yeah, Ma. Don’t worry,” Jax chimed in, putting a hand on Gemma’s shoulder to gently rear her back and put some space in between Allie and his mother. Then, he got an idea and wagged a finger playfully at Allie. “Ya know, I was just tellin’ my mom about Lyla’s wrap party.”

Allie’s eyes lit up and she grinned widely at his mom. “Yes! Gemma, you should come. Jax - did you tell her she should come?”

He just beamed back at Gemma, who eyed him sourly. “That I did, darlin’.”

“Gemma, you should come. My dad really does throw the best parties and if you don’t have a good time there, then...well, I don’t know what to tell you.”

Jax held up both hands with a shrug. “You hear that, Ma? No reason why you shouldn’t. No reason at all.”

Gemma shot him a hard glare, her hands hitched on her hips in agitation. “You’re a real shit, Jackson.”

Allie’s eyes darted between the two of them, her lips pulling apart in a slight wince. She tucked some more dark hair behind her ear, and her eyes met his for just a moment before she reached into her purse for a packet of papers. He didn’t have long, but that was long enough to wink at her, making her pretty cheeks flush with just a hint of crimson.

“So,” Jax grinned at her. “Is this my present or you got somethin’ else for me?”

Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and he could see Gemma shaking her head from the corner of his eye. Jax just shrugged - why pass up a perfect opportunity to ruffle her feathers just because he could?   


“Okay,” Allie allowed easily. “Maybe that was a poor choice of words.”

“Funny coming from you, Attorney Levy.”

She tilted her head to the side and pushed out a heavy sigh. “Why did I even bother today? Here I spent the better part of my day at the courthouse for  _ you _ and this is the thanks I get, huh?”

At her words, Jax immediately lunged for the papers, but she playfully yanked them away from his fingertips before he had a chance to grab them.

“The courthouse?” he heard Gemma call out behind him.

“Oh, alright,” Allie laughed and shoved the papers into his chest. His hand covered hers for just a moment against his chest, but she pulled her hand back just as quickly. “Everything’s filed now. Officially. I’m sorry it took longer than I’d planned, but that’s what happens when you ask a business attorney to file for divorce for you.”

“Hey, I’m just happy it’s done,” he told her as he thumbed through the papers, flipping through the pages to see Wendy’s signature next to his on all the right pages. “God damn. That feels good.”

“Well, technically it’s not  _ official  _ official. You still have to sit through the waiting period before it can go in front of a judge to finalize it, but since the waiting period started when I filed the first motion, you only have to wait about four months or so.”

“Well,” Gemma exhaled. “That’s the best news I’ve heard in years.”

Jax stared down at the final page of the papers in his hand, the one that really put a final pin on his marriage to Wendy, even if it wasn’t completely finalized yet, and relief washed over him in waves. She hadn’t even put up much of a fight, at least not after it became clearer and clearer to her that he was dead serious in giving her the house. He didn’t care how it had gotten worked out, or how Allie had worked everything into the papers, just as long as Wendy signed on the dotted line when he’d needed her to. And she’d done it.

She’d really done it.

Part of him thought maybe it was time to at least check in on her, make sure she was doing okay, and maybe even thank her for not making this any harder than it needed to be. But then again, after everything they’d put each other through these last few years, maybe it was better to leave well enough alone. One of the many benefits of divorce was that he wasn’t legally obligated to take care of her anymore. Maybe he needed more time to wrap his head around that so he didn’t fall back into old habits.

But it was over. It was really over.

“Hey, you know what we should do?” Gemma was saying now. “We gotta bring this to the boys! Let’s head to the clubhouse - do a shot or somethin’, right?”

From the corner of his eye, he could see Allie’s face fall into a blank line, even as Gemma threw an arm around her shoulders to corral her into the parking lot.

“Come on! We gotta celebrate. If we can’t celebrate this, then what the hell can we celebrate?” Gemma laughed, waving Jax on from over her shoulder, even as she kept Allie walking almost robotically toward the clubhouse.

“You know, Gemma, I don’t really need to be a part of this. I just filed the paperwork, and I should really -”

“Nonsense, sweetheart,” Gemma laughed. “You’re just as much a part of this as anyone!”

Allie glanced over her shoulder at Jax as he trailed after them, her eyes widening in a panic. That flash of terror on her face almost had him stopping right in his tracks. Her reaction was...a little extreme. A little...not  _ normal  _ for someone who’d claimed they just didn’t like to drink. But he pushed that down, and shot her a reassuring grin. Whatever was going on with her, he wouldn’t let her drown.

“ _ I got you _ ,” he mouthed to her as Gemma wrangled her all the way to the clubhouse’s double doors. 

Her face relaxed a little bit, but not as much as he would’ve liked. Allie still looked stiff and uncomfortable, and Gemma either didn’t care or was too worked about the day’s events to notice. Maybe he’d have to have a talk with Gemma about that, make sure she understood that this shouldn’t happen again.

“Hey boys!” Gemma called into the clubhouse. “Jax has some news!”

By now, she had the attention of everyone inside the clubhouse, and his club brothers stopped what they were doing, some even coming from the hallway to find out what the hell Gemma was yelling about. So, with all the attention squarely on him, there was nothing left to do.

“All my divorce papers are in,” Jax told them with an easy shrug. 

The clubhouse erupted in loud whoops and cheers, beers lifted high in the air in a toast, and Jax found himself surrounded by his brothers, who clapped him on the shoulder and pulled him in for a celebratory bro-hug. Finally, he let himself get swept up in the reverie, letting himself laugh and take their congratulations for everything it was worth. This  _ was  _ worth celebrating - the fact that one chapter of his life was closing and now, another one could finally begin. All those things in his life that weighed him down...he was finally starting to shed them one by one.

Yeah. That was worth a shot or three.

“Grab that fuckin’ tequila bottle!” Tig hollered from somewhere on the other side of the bar.

Another round of whoops and yelps echoed throughout the clubhouse and the prospect behind the bar dutifully began racking up the shot glasses and filling them all to the brim. At this point, Allie had gotten crowded right up to the edge of the bar, long separated from Gemma, who had an arm happily wrapped around Bobby’s neck. Now, Tig was pushing up against her, murmuring something into her ear that had her leaning away from him in an effort to put as much space between her and Tig as possible.

Jax grinned as he stepped around Happy to sidle right up behind Allie and slipped a hand on her hip just to let her know he was there. She jumped a little at the contact, her head whipping around with wide eyes, and his grin only deepened when that look disappeared from her eyes the second she realized who was behind her. She looked relieved, at best, that it was him, and not someone else in the club, and Jax figured he’d take whatever he could get.

“Don’t worry about Tig,” Jax murmured in her ear. “He’s mostly harmless.”

Tig leaned into her again, eyeing her up with a predatory glint in his crazed eyes. “Depends on your definition of  _ harmless _ , sweetheart.”

She leaned back again, despite the fact that she was laughing along good-naturedly, until her back was pressed up just a little against Jax’s chest. “I don’t think you’d be my definition of harmless.”

Tig just shrugged. That was clearly no skin off his back. “And you’d be right about that, sweetheart.”

Now, the shots were being distributed around the crowd and he felt Allie stiffen when the shot meant for her appeared on the bar in front of them. She swallowed hard, glancing over her shoulder at him with a nervous smile on her face, and he felt his eyebrows lift in surprise when she actually took hold of the shot glass and rose it in the air along with everyone else.

“Here’s to divorce,” Bobby called out, his shot glass lifted high over his head. “The best fuckin’ thing that ever happened to anyone!”

Everyone shouted out their toast, clinking their shot glasses together, and tipping their shot glasses back. Jax grinned at his club brothers, even as he downed his own tequila shot, and then quickly slipped the shot glass from Allie’s fingertips and downed hers too, with no one around them the wiser.

She pressed a grateful smile on her face as he set the shot glass back in front of her. This time, when he winked at her, she just bit down on her bottom lip to hide the way her grin spread across her beautiful face.

“Come on,” Jax murmured to her. “Let’s get you outta here while you can still make a run for it.”

“Okay,” Allie laughed. “I should get back to the studio anyway.”

Before he could stop himself, he threw a lazy arm around her shoulders to help steer her away from the bar and toward the clubhouse’s double doors. It was too easy - touching her this way, talking to her this way...he wasn’t sure how he’d ever get a handle on himself to stop. At least, for now, she wasn’t glaring up at him or pissed off over something he didn’t even know he did.

And while seeing Allie pissed off was something he’d gladly pass his time doing, seeing her looking back at him with softer dark eyes, with a pretty smile curling her lips...that was something else entirely.

He glanced over his shoulder as he held the door open for Allie to pass through in front of him, and found Gemma’s ever-watchful, all-seeing dark gaze settled right on the hand he’d kept on the small of Allie’s back. That hand immediately fell to his side. He didn’t bother to look over his shoulder again before the doors closed behind them. The last thing he needed right now was to give his mother one more reason to hover like a helicopter.

Like she needed another reason anyway.

“Hey,” he told Allie as he fell into step next to her in the parking lot. “I brought all those things we’d talked about to the table today, and the club is ready to move forward with everything you said.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” he laughed. “Don’t look so surprised, darlin’. We know a good idea or two when we hear them.”

Allie grinned, nodded like she was impressed by how quickly they’d come to a decision. “Okay then. I’ll get in touch with Dominic King to really get the audit going, and I’m guessing you want me to set up that LLC too?”

He nodded back to her, this time letting his hand drop to the small of her back again as they approached her car. “Do whatever you gotta do to get it done. Bobby’s gonna set up all the financial shit once you’ve got everything all settled.”

“Alright,” she laughed easily, shaking her head a little. “I’ll get it started when I get back to my office. It shouldn’t take long, and then I’ll shoot Bobby an email with all the information he needs.”

“Sounds good, darlin’,” Jax smiled at her. Then his smile wilted, and he pulled his lips into the side of his face, shoving his hands deep inside his pockets now. “Hey, can I ask you a question? And you can hit me if it’s outta line, I promise.”

His hands shot up in defense now to prove to her that he didn’t mean any harm, didn’t necessarily mean to pry, but...he had to ask.

“What’s that, Jax?” she lifted an eyebrow, almost as if she knew exactly what he was about to ask her.

He pushed out a heavy sigh, pulling a hand through his hair with some anxiety that surprised him. Suddenly, he felt like maybe this was really none of his business. Who was he to ask her this question? He’d technically already asked her once, and she’d answered, and he should just leave it at that. Besides, if she felt comfortable giving him more information, she probably would’ve done it already.

The fact that she might not feel comfortable sharing this with him, or anything for that matter, set him more off-balance than he was willing to admit.

“Let me guess,” Allie offered good-naturedly. “You were going to ask if I’ve got a drinking problem? If I’m in AA, or something like that?”

He bit down on his bottom lip to hide his reaction, shoving his hands in his pockets again and rocking back on his heels with a small smile. “Maybe.”

She nodded knowingly, offering him another soft smile. “I figured. And to answer your question, no. Although, maybe I should just start telling everyone I’m an alcoholic if that’s what they think anyway.”

Allie laughed a little, and then shook her head just as quickly, scrubbing a hand over her cheek. “Sorry, that’s not funny. I shouldn’t joke about something like that.”

He just shrugged and kept rocking back on his heels, waiting to see if she’d give him anything else, wanting her to see that if she wanted to, she could tell him and he’d listen without any judgment.

“It’s just…” Allie trailed off with a heavy sigh, and he felt himself frowning back at her. “I’m usually better at waving it away, you know? Sometimes, I just get caught off guard a little bit around you guys, and I don’t know what to do.”

That frown only creased more deeply across his forehead as he considered her words. He figured that was as good an excuse as any, and judging by the way she’d acted at the merger party a few weeks ago, no one at the studio batted an eye when she downed Diet Cokes at their parties instead of rum and diets. The only difference in her world lately was the club, and he guessed she’d been having more people offer her drinks, at least in this setting, than she was really used to.

He could get behind that. Even if it just brought more questions right to the tip of his tongue. And at this point, he wasn’t stupid enough to ask. He was pretty stupid, sure, but he wasn’t  _ that  _ stupid.

“Okay, Allie,” Jax just smiled at her. “So, I guess I’ll see you on Saturday then?”

“Right. Saturday. And hey,” she tilted her head to the side with a grin playing on her lips. “Congratulations on your sort of, almost final divorce. That has to be a good feeling to get all that behind you.”

“Darlin’, you have no idea,” he laughed with a happy smirk. “You have no fuckin’ idea.”

“Well, I’m glad it all worked out. Marriage  _ is  _ for suckers, you know,” Allie replied with a laugh, and then, with that grin on her lips only widening, she held out a hand to him.

He would’ve preferred another hug, just like the one she’d given him after their meeting with Xander Benson went south, but he figured he must’ve looked pretty pathetic for her to lower herself to something like that. And hell, if that’s what it took to get her arms wrapped around his neck again, then maybe it was worth it.

But still, he’d take whatever she was willing to give.

So, he slipped his hand in hers with a nod. “Excellent work as always, Attorney Levy. Worth every penny.”

“I’m glad to know I’m meeting your expectations,” Allie laughed, and yet, she still hadn’t pulled her hand away from his grasp.

She glanced down at their hands, her cheeks flushing pink, but she still didn’t pull away. It was only after Jax flashed her a smirk that she slipped her hand from his. Then without another word, she opened her driver’s side door and slid inside her car. He shut her door for her, crouching down a little to shoot her a wave, and then watched her pull out of the parking lot to head down the street and away from the clubhouse, away from him.

Well, there were only a few more days until Saturday anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - First of all, thank you to everyone who's reading, especially if you've left a review and/or left kudos! I always love reading your comments and getting your feedback on the characters and the story (and I'm always happy to hear any predictions you might too).
> 
> The next chapter is a big one (and was my personal favorite until I wrote a few more of the upcoming chapters), and I think it's the one everyone's been waiting for, you know? Jax really got to have his knight in shining armor moment with her in the clubhouse without even really trying to, and how is anyone, Allie included, supposed to be able to resist? The chapter will also find them at the Taste of Charming fundraiser and Fun Town - and Gemma and Dan will finally meet! I'm thinking I will post this on Sunday, just so you know to look for it, mainly because I'm so far ahead and am just starting ch. 27 today!
> 
> Also, if anyone's interested, I thought I'd share a tiny portion of my writing playlist, if you were wondering what songs I'm thinking of with this story:
> 
> "I Don't Care" - Ed Sheeran (the acoustic version)
> 
> "Here With Me" - Daniel Blake
> 
> "God is a Woman" - Ariana Grande
> 
> "XO" - John Mayer
> 
> "bad guy" - Billie Eilish
> 
> "Use Somebody" - Kings of Leon (and I really like the Shawn Mendes cover on Spotify too)
> 
> "It's Gonna Be Me" - N'Sync (I feel like this could be Jax's theme song, lol - and I also found a cool cover on Spotify by Kevin Garrett that I also listen to when I'm writing)


	16. Chapter Sixteen

“So let me get this straight,” Dan told her incredulously as he slid out of her car. “That woman stayed up all night, slaving away in front of her stove, with a super secret recipe that she refuses to share with  _ anyone _ , and now she’s gonna expect  _ us _ to basically be her little fundraiser elves, no questions asked, all day?”

“Yep, that pretty much sums it up.”

Dan’s mouth spread apart in a wide, almost evil grin, his thick, dark eyebrows lifting high into his forehead like a Bond villain. “I cannot  _ wait  _ to meet her. Oh my God, I think this just might be the best day of my life.”

Allie stopped short, her feet stalling right on the pavement of Charming High School’s parking lot, and she whipped around to face her roommate. “You know what. I’ve made a decision. You,” she jabbed a finger at him as she spoke, “are sitting in the car for the rest of the day. Now, I’ll crack a few windows open for you. I might even turn the radio on if you’re really good. But you, my friend, are not taking another step.”

Dan’s lips curled into Grinch-like portions as he hitched a hand on his hip in defiance. “And risk pissing off Mama Gemma? Oh, Alexandra, we both know you’re not gonna do that, so why even play around?”

Maybe he had a point. There was  _ no way  _ she would dare piss off Gemma, especially not by essentially ditching her twice in a row. That sounded like a sure fire way of ending up six feet under. Figuratively speaking, of course. Allie liked to believe Gemma wasn’t actually capable of murder - but then again, one could never tell where the club, or anyone affiliated with them, was concerned.

And then again,  _ she  _ was affiliated with the club now too, wasn’t she? What exactly that said about  _ her _ , she wasn’t really sure…

“Alright, alright. Maybe I went too far,” Allie waved a hand at him as they approached the myriad of brightly-colored booths and tents just beyond the parking lot. “But, that being said, I would really, really appreciate it if you maybe didn’t embarrass me today, okay?”

“ _ Me _ ? Embarrass  _ you _ ? You should be counting your lucky stars for the day I sashayed into your life, so don’t talk to me about who’s embarrassing who here.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, Daniel?”

Dan stopped short, whirling around to face her and almost losing the plate of cookies in his hand in the process. “You. That’s what. You’re  _ nervous _ , aren’t you? You’ve been all keyed up the last few days, worrying about what to wear, if that color lipstick is too much or not enough, which,” he gave her a quick once-over with an appreciative eye, “is just right, but you knew that already.”

Allie glanced down at her attire and threw him a nonchalant shrug. “Okay, so maybe I was a little indecisive for a day or two, but that’s just because this is still kind of a work event for me, you know?”

“No,” Dan lifted his eyes to the sky in annoyance. “I don’t know, and that’s because this  _ isn’t _ really a work event. That’s just what you’re telling yourself. Look at you - you look like you just stepped out of a Vogue ad or something.”

She glanced down at her outfit again, now a little more self-conscious about what she’d ultimately decided on. Her summer midi dress was silky and loose-fitting, but still fitted enough to show her shape, and the red color, with its delicate white flower pattern, complimented her skin tone nicely. It was the little details, though, that had her second-guessing this choice. Thin spaghetti straps that dipped low in the back, a subtle sweetheart cut in the front, and a high slit that landed right in the middle of her left thigh...there was just as much skin on display as what she’d worn for the merger party over a month ago, if not more so, but that was also a wildly different atmosphere than a town fundraiser. She’d brought a leather jacket to cover up when it was time to head to Fun Town, but until then, she was rocking the spaghetti straps and thigh slit.

“What, is that bad?”

“No,” Dan stared at her like she was an idiot. “You look  _ perfect.  _ Completely and utterly perfect. And we both know why. That’s all I’m saying.”

Allie huffed a little, tucking her leather jacket under her arm with more animosity than she would’ve liked. There was a part of her, deep down, that knew exactly what he was talking about. But she was also never, ever going to admit that.

“Oh, come on,” Dan nudged her with his elbow as they headed right for the black tent with the Samcro logo on it. “All this nervous energy around the house these last few days - you really think I wasn’t gonna notice? But you know what? You do you. If you wanna play this game, then I’ll play as long as I can stand it.”

“Shut your trap, Daniel.”

Dan’s mouth fell open in faux-shock and his free hand pressed into his heart like she’d just said JC Chasez was a mediocre singer, at best. That was sacrilege, at least according to her best friend and roommate. Messing with N’Sync was also a sure fire way to end up six feet under.

“Well, are you ready for this or what?” Dan shot back. “Because if you’re not...well, I don’t care.”

Allie pushed out a heavy sigh, steeling herself for whatever this day might bring. The fundraiser didn’t technically start until noon, but Gemma had given them strict instructions to be at the club’s booth by 10:30  _ at the latest _ so they could get everything set up, and then there was still Fun Town to deal with later on. She hadn’t been to Fun Town since high school, but that carnival could go just about as late as the town wanted, as long as there were people still out and about.

It was going to be a long, long day. That much she knew for sure.

As they approached the booth, it was clear Gemma had enlisted some of the club members to help her with the set up too. Several leather cuts moved around the booth, setting up tables, and unloading more than a few buffet-style slow cookers from a van parked off to the side.

“But where is the  _ president  _ though?” Dan muttered, even as he stood up a little bit on his toes to get a better look at the people in the booth. “Oh, that’s right. He wouldn’t deign himself to this kind of work, would he? Best to save that for the minions.”

Allie shot him a wary side-eye but chose not to acknowledge him any further. Which was just as well because Gemma had already made eye contact.

“Hey!” she waved at them from the booth. “Come on! We’re just gettin’ started over here.”

Dan gripped Allie’s elbow with his free hand and murmured into her ear, “Oh my God. She is  _ fabulous. _ ”

“Okay, okay. Just...behave.”

He shot her a bitchy grin, pulling her along by the elbow so they could get to that booth a little bit faster. “Do  _ not  _ ruin this for me, Alexandra. So help me God.”

They met Gemma at the back end of the club’s booth, where Lyla and Piper were already perched in chairs, tying some bags together. Gemma didn’t waste any time, wiping her hands on a towel, and practically sprinting around the pop-up tables to get to them.

“Well,” she started happily, her dark eyes sparking with excitement. “I’m glad you two could make it!”

She slipped an arm around Allie’s shoulder to pull her in for a quick hug before setting her sights on Dan. “And who is this?”

Allie had to bite back a grin as Dan stepped forward to take Gemma by the shoulders. Gemma didn’t miss a beat, that grin on her face spreading into almost pure glee.

“I think I just might be your new best friend,” Dan told her as he pulled Gemma in tight. “Don’t fight it. This is real. I knew it from the moment I saw you.”

Gemma, never one to turn down flattery, pulled away just long enough to take Dan by the chin. “Honey, you have no idea what you’re in for.”

Allie just rolled her eyes and stepped around them just in time to hear Gemma say, “You know I watched one of your movies last night.”

To which Dan replied, “Ooo! Which one?”

She didn’t really need to hear the rest of that conversation and figured it was better to just leave them to it than have to stand there and act interested.

“Allie!” Lyla whispered loudly from around the side of their booth, waving her over. “Over here!”

She took her cue, grateful for the rescue, and joined Lyla and Piper on the other side.

* * *

“Those fuckers,” Gemma muttered her breath as yet another patron at the fundraiser walked past their booth with a plateful of burgers and chips. Then yet another couple walked past with plates of hot dogs and chips. And another.

“Okay, wait,” Dan offered, tilting his head to the side in thought. “So...we  _ don’t  _ want those very attractive firemen to get donations or…”

“Well,” Gemma hitched a hand on her hip as she stirred one of the chili pots with her other hand. “I want them to get donations, sure. They’re the fire department for chrissakes. But I  _ don’t  _ want them to get more donations than  _ us _ .”

Dan stared at Gemma for a beat, then swiveled his gaze to the fire department’s booth across from them before waving brightly at them. “Mmmkay.”

“Who’s side are you on here?”

Dan’s eyes widened comically and he glanced over his shoulder at Allie to mouth,  _ “I love her.” _

“Of course I’m on your side,” Dan told Gemma placatingly. “Always.”

Allie shot Lyla a knowing glance and they both started laughing behind Dan and Gemma. They’d been stationed behind the main action on prep duty, which mainly consisted of rolling napkins and keeping the little thank you bags stocked and ready to be handed out with each chili purchase. Gemma ran the show at the front table, with Dan and Bobby dutifully doling out cup after cup of her chili, and Piper stationed at the end of the table to take payment and make change.

“Gemma really pulled out all the stops this year,” Lyla murmured to her as she dropped another thank you bag in their pile. “I feel like every year this whole production gets bigger and bigger.”

Allie just grinned back at her, careful not to say too much since they were well within earshot of Gemma. Knowing what she knew now, and knowing that it really was important that the community saw the club in a different light, she understood why Gemma took this so seriously every year. This fundraiser was really the club’s one, legitimate shot every year at being seen as something other than that lawless MC in town. It was no wonder Gemma stayed up all night the night before, slaving away in front of her stove to perfect her chili - which, incidentally, was still very much a secret family recipe. Dan had tried, pretty valiantly and politely, to get even a hint at some of the ingredients Gemma used, but she hadn’t budged an inch.

“Well, well, well,” a familiar deep voice called out behind them.

Allie’s heart stuttered and her hands froze in mid-air for just a second, holding onto one of those little thank you bags for dear life, but when she felt Lyla’s eyes drift in her direction, she snapped herself out of it. 

“This looks absolutely fantastic, Ma.”

“I know,” Gemma replied easily. “What did you expect, Jackson?”

“Somethin’ pretty much like this.”

At this point, she couldn’t really ignore the fact that they had guests in their booth now. Lyla had already sprung from her seat to get to Opie, leaving her stranded and feeling a little out of sorts. But, since Dan and Gemma were effectively blocking her from view, and since she had her back to the table anyway, couldn’t she just pretend she wasn’t there?

And then she saw a ringed hand reach for a cookie on the plate next to her shoulder. 

“Hey!” Dan shrieked, and Allie turned her head to see Dan swat the chocolate chip cookie right out of Jax’s hand. “Those are for the volunteers! Not you!”

Jax’s hands immediately flew up in the air in defense, despite the smirk on his face. “Sorry! Jesus.”

“No, my name is Daniel. Thank you very much.”

She could hear Gemma cackling next to Dan, and now, she couldn’t really put it off any longer. Her gaze shifted right to Jax, almost on reflex, and found him staring back at Dan with his eyebrows lifted high into his forehead. He glanced at her for a moment, as if he could feel her eyes on him, and then shifted his gaze back to Dan. Almost instantaneously, Jax’s eyes slammed back to her.

His lips twisted across his handsome face into a lop-sided smirk as his eyes swept across every inch of bare skin he could find, starting with her exposed shoulders, her neck, and finally drifting downward to the lower cut neckline of her dress. All she could do was chew on her bottom lip and hope no one else was watching.

So maybe Dan was right. Maybe she’d purposefully chosen this exact dress, with matching lipstick, for this exact reason. He’d have to wrangle it out of her before she’d ever admit that out loud though.

At this point, there was nothing left to do but stand up. It was hard to ignore the way Jax’s blue eyes sparked when he saw the flash of skin at the slit by her thigh.

Definitely made the right choice. She wasn’t going to think about why. Couldn’t she just revel in the knowledge, even just for one second, that she had his attention? It probably helped - or maybe it didn’t - that this dress was obviously designed for someone much taller, so the thigh slit hit a little bit lower on her than it would on someone with longer legs.

“Hey, Allie,” Opie was calling out to her now, drawing her attention away from the blonde biker in front of her. “Why are you two ladies relegated to the back of the booth like this?”

Allie just shrugged. Then, because she just couldn’t help herself, she answered honestly with an easy grin, “Oh, you know,” she gestured to the still-lingering purple bruise on the bridge of her nose, “I think it’s probably on account of our banged up faces.”

“That’s true,” Lyla nodded from underneath Opie’s arm, gesturing to the very obvious remnants of bruises on her own face. “It’s bad for business.”

Gemma hitched both hands on her hips, turning a sharp eyebrow at them. “That had nothin’ to do with it. I’m the face of this operation here, and you all know it.”

Dan nodded in solidarity. “It’s true.”

“But,” Gemma allowed. “Maybe it’s time for a break.”

She shifted on her heel, sweeping a hand out to the open space in front of her. Then, because Allie clearly couldn’t take the hint, or maybe she didn’t want to, Gemma put her hand on the small of Allie’s back to give her a gentle push to the front table - and incidentally, directly in front of Jax.

His lips curled up the side of his face, and he pushed his hands into his front pockets. “Hey, Allie. Long time no see.”

“Sure, Jax,” she laughed. 

His use of her actual name set her a little off-kilter. It always did - she’d half-expected him to call her  _ darlin’ _ like he usually did. She was prepared for that. Knew how to react. How to manage it. This felt different...especially the soft lilt in his voice when he said her name.

Now, she gestured to the huge slow cooker in front of her. “Would you like a bowl or…?”

He just lifted a shoulder, but that grin still hadn’t left his face. “Sure, darlin’.”

Allie pushed out a heavy breath, shaking her head a little as she picked up an empty plastic bowl and started filling it for him. She waited expectantly to see if he wanted her to add any toppings, and he pointed to the cheese and onions with a smirk, clearly enjoying the fact that she was basically waiting on him right now. He shook his head at the sour cream, signaling that she should skip it. Then she threw on some extra cheese just for good measure, and he winked at her when she handed him the bowl.

“That will be $100, Mr. Teller,” Allie told him flatly, and without a hint of irony.

Jax narrowed his eyes a little, but the playfulness there and the ever-present smirk on his face told a different story. Then, without missing a beat, he handed the chili bowl back to her so he could dig into his back pocket for his wallet. He made quick work of counting the 20s and promptly handed them over to Piper, shooting the shy teen a sly wink as she took the bills from his fingertips.

At this point, it was obvious that all eyes in that booth were on them. 

Then, Jax lifted his eyebrows and gestured to the bowl in her hand. “Well, can I have my chili? I think I earned it.”

She huffed out a laugh but handed it over. 

“I think that might’ve been our biggest donation yet,” she heard Gemma mutter from over her shoulder.

And then Dan’s voice: “Does it count if it’s technically from us?”

“Oh, it counts.”

Jax winked at Allie again as he brought a big spoonful of chili to his mouth, stepping off to the side so she could get a bowl for Tig, who was next in line. 

“I have to say, sweetheart,” Tig leaned in to murmur to her, “you look good enough to eat today, but if you charge me $100 for a bowl of chili, I’m walkin’ over to those firefighters for a hot dog.”

* * *

With their booth all cleaned up and mostly loaded up into a van by the prospects on duty, Allie collapsed into a chair next to Dan and threw her feet into his lap. She’d expected to be tired, but being on her feet for so long really made her wish she’d brought a change of shoes. However, anything less than chunky heels would do a disservice to her outfit, so she’d sacrificed comfort for fashion today.

That was a sacrifice she could live with.

Dan took his cue, gently working the tired muscles in her calves. “Well, that went better than I expected. I made a new best friend and  _ you _ ...I don’t want to talk about you right now.”

She chose not to acknowledge him, instead closing her eyes so she could just focus on this brief reprieve. This day had already been...a lot, to say the least, and they hadn’t even announced who the biggest donation earner was - as if that was some sort of prize that could be won. Well, in Gemma’s mind, it definitely was. Allie didn’t really want to know what was going to happen if the club didn’t come out on top. Apparently, Gemma’s rivalry with the fire department was no joke, and she was a little worried Gemma might set fire to their tent - for real - if the club didn’t win.

“Oh my God,” Allie muttered under her breath. “I have to go to the bathroom so bad, but this feels  _ so _ good right now. I don’t want to move.”

Dan unceremoniously pushed her legs off his lap and shooed her along. “If you fall asleep right now, Alexandra, I am not responsible for cleaning up after you. I don’t have a change of clothes for you in the car.”

Allie just rolled her eyes and slid off her chair. It was still too hot for her leather jacket, and by now, any self-consciousness she’d had over her dress was long gone. With the heat scorching down on her shoulders, she was more concerned about sunscreen now than anything, and was grateful for the airy dress around her body. Besides, she looked good. Why ruin a good time before it even started?

As she headed for the line of port-a-potties at the end of the parking lot, Allie stopped short and crinkled her nose up at the sight. Long lines of carnival-goers graced the side of the parking lot, all waiting for their turn in the dirty, stinky makeshift outhouses. 

Pass. Hard, hard pass.

Besides, she also really had to pee and waiting that long in line was most likely not going to end well for her.

A low whistle sounded at her in her direction, and she immediately whipped around to face whoever was stupid enough to  _ whistle _ at her. Allie really shouldn’t have been surprised to see Jax meandering toward her, and away from the small group of Reaper cuts off to the side, his hands in his pockets, and a sexy smirk on his face. Of course. Why would it be anyone else?

“Did you just whistle at me,” Allie called out to him, her hands on her hips, “like I was a  _ dog _ ?”

Jax just shrugged, even as he closed the short distance between them, his blue eyes sparkling with amusement. “Got your attention, didn’t it?”

Allie stared back at him in exasperation with her hands still perched defiantly on her hips. “I’m pretty sure that’s not my point.”

He nodded easily, his eyes trailing up and down the length of her as he came to stand right in front of her. Even though she was technically fully clothed, she’d never felt more exposed in that moment. Maybe it was just the feeling of his eyes sweeping over her exposed skin. That was it.

Then he tipped his chin to her. “Where you headed?”

“Well, I’m not sure.”

Jax’s eyebrows dipped into a small frown, but that grin still hadn’t left his face. “What do you mean you’re not sure?”

She gestured to the long line of port-a-potties about 30 feet away from them. “I was  _ going  _ to go to the bathroom, but that just seems like a terrible choice for so many reasons. And now I don’t know what to do because I have to pee like nobody’s business.”

He seemed to give that some consideration, tilting his head to the side in thought until he sidestepped around her and motioned with his head for her to follow him. “Come on now. This way.”

Against her better judgment, she trailed after him, stopping long enough to slip her chunky heels off her feet - which was both a relief to her aching toes and let her catch up to Jax even faster. 

“Where are we going?”

He pointed to the school with a ringed hand, lifting his eyebrows at her expectantly from over his shoulder.

“What? Jax, no. There’s no way the school’s open right now.”

“I never said it was open,” he tsked at her, gesturing with his head for her to hustle along.

“Well, then, what…”

“Don’t worry about it,” he told her as they rounded a corner of the building. “I may or may not know that there happens to be a window right around this corner here that is open, more often than not.”

“What do you mean, more often than not?”

“Well,” he explained with a smirk as he pointed to a window just ahead of them. “There might’ve been occasions when Ope and I skipped out on a few periods. When we wanted to sneak back in, we went this way. That old bastard who taught in this room was too drunk off his ass in the afternoons to know any better.”

“You mean Mr. Collins? Wouldn’t he be retired by now?”

“Fuck if I know,” Jax shrugged as he reached up to tug on the window to slide it open. When it didn’t budge, he frowned and started pulling on it even harder, bringing a foot up to the wall to really throw his weight into it, muttering under his breath, “Shit.”

Allie just stared at him with her hands on her hips. “Nice, Jax.”

He gave the window another tug before stumbling back from the wall a little. He shoved his hands deep inside his pockets, almost sheepishly, and rocked back on his heels. When he finally turned his head to her, his lips pulled apart in a grimace.

“What am I supposed to do now?”

“I guess you’re stuck waitin’ in line,” Jax smirked.

“Ugh,” Allie jutted out her bottom lip. “I can _ not _ believe this. Thanks a lot.”

“You’re welcome.”

She huffed out a laugh, shaking her head at him. “I guess this is what I get - listening to you. You just had to show off, didn’t you? I can’t believe you really thought that was gonna work. Now, my bladder’s gonna explode and you don’t even care.”

Jax’s hand flew into his chest. “That hurts. That really  _ hurts _ . Of course I care.”

“Okay.”

Allie started to head back around the building, only to stop short when she saw the long, winding line for the port-a-potties by the parking lot’s edge that had seemed to grow by about 50 people since they’d walked away. 

“That’s it. It’s official. You’re officially the worst.”

“Aw, come on,” Jax nudged her with his elbow. “You really thought you weren’t gonna have to use those things at  _ some  _ point? Were you planning to hold it all through Fun Town too?”

“I don’t know,” she shot back. “I hadn’t planned that far ahead.”

“Well, there’s a gas station about two blocks away. Can’t imagine it would take you longer to get there than it would to wait in line, crossin’ your legs.”

Allie pushed out a rough sigh. “I don’t have my keys or my purse. Besides, I’d never find a parking spot again. I’d have to park at that gas station and walk back.”

His lips twisted into a cocky smirk as he rocked back on his heels again. “I do have a bike, you know. And a helmet. I’ll even let you wear it.”

“Right,” Allie laughed. “Like I’m getting on your bike.”

Jax just frowned back at her, that cocky smirk slipping a little. “Why not?”

“Well, for starters,” she gestured to her summer dress. “I’m not exactly dressed to get on the back of a bike.”

His blue eyes flicked down to her dress before meeting her in the eye. “I disagree.”

“And even if I was,” Allie rolled her eyes at him. “I’d never get on the back of  _ your  _ bike anyway.”

Jax’s eyebrows lifted into his forehead. “Never?”

“Never,” she smirked back. This was fun. Maybe  _ too  _ much fun, but today, she was giving herself permission to have a little bit of fun. Just a little.

“And why is that?”

She just shot him a wary side-eye as she stepped around him to head down the opposite side of the parking lot, where she could hightail it to the sidewalk and sprint to that gas station if she had to. At this point, if she waited in line, she might really need that change of clothes Dan had joked about before - and he’d been telling the truth. There was no change of clothes waiting for her in her car. So, the gas station it was.

Then she heard light footsteps jogging behind her to catch up.

“I don’t need a chaperone, Jax,” she called over her shoulder, clutching her heels even tighter in her hand to distract herself from the fact that she really, really had to pee.

“Like hell you don’t,” she heard him laughing behind her. 

Now, she just couldn’t wait anymore. Even though she knew Jax was right on her heels, she broke out into a light sprint, with her heels in one hand, and the hem of her dress in the other so she could run a little bit faster.

“Wait up, Allie,” Jax called out behind her.

“I can’t! I literally can’t!”

He was still laughing when he caught up, jogging next to her until they stopped right at the gas station’s main entrance. Jax pulled the door open for her, waving her in with his free hand and a wide smile on his face. Hopping from foot to foot, she debated how smart it was to walk in there without her shoes on, gave up, put her shoes back on using Jax’s shoulder as a lean-to, and then speed-walked straight for the women’s restroom at the back of the gas station.

When she was done, and feeling a little more like herself, she glanced at her reflection in the mirror as she washed her hands. For a second, Allie almost didn’t recognize herself. Her cheeks were flushed, her hair was a little tangled and disheveled at her shoulders, her breath a little ragged from all the adrenaline and the running. She looked...alive. And happy.

Smiling to herself, she ran her fingers through her hair to smooth some of the tangles. It didn’t matter to her anymore that her lipstick had long worn off or that her carefully applied mascara had flaked a little - okay, she was going to fix that - or that her dress was a little wrinkled in the back or maybe really did expose more skin than she was comfortable with. 

She felt like herself. And that was all that mattered.

When she left the women’s restroom, she easily found the back of Jax’s blonde head, where he was standing at the counter, that Reaper emblem on his leather-covered back on full display for everyone to see. He’d thrown a pack of gum and a king-size package of Reese’s peanut butter cups on the counter. The clerk behind the desk was just reaching up to grab a pack of cigarettes for Jax as she made her way over there and rested an elbow on the counter.

His head immediately turned to her, and he flashed her a grin. “Feel better?”

“You have no idea.”

Jax huffed out a laugh as he tipped his chin to the counter. “You want anything?”

“Nah,” she batted a hand at him. “I’m good. Thanks.”

He just lifted a shoulder, digging into his back pocket for his wallet when the clerk set his cigarettes down by the rest of his purchases. Then, he caught her off-guard by leaning in to murmur in her ear, “You’re lucky I have any cash left to pay for this shit.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault you actually paid $100 for  _ one  _ bowl of chili,” she laughed. 

“Like I had a choice,” he huffed back, but as he leaned away, his blue eyes glinted with amusement. She found herself immediately missing that closeness, that heady scent of spice and gasoline, and then shoved it down just as quickly.

She could hear his phone buzzing inside his cut as he tossed a few bills on the counter to pay, then he tipped his chin to the clerk, sweeping his cigarettes and gum up in one hand and handing the peanut butter cups to her with the other. He reached inside his cut for his phone before tossing his cigarettes and gum in his inside pocket, gesturing for her to head toward the door as he flipped his phone open.

“Yeah, Ma?”

Even as he answered, his eyes met hers and he grinned before pushing the door open to let Allie pass through first.

“Yeah, I got her.”

At this point, Allie was acutely aware that their presence at this gas station had drawn a little bit of attention. Several people’s heads turned at the sight of Jax’s Reaper cut, and then, almost on reflex, their focus shifted to see the girl the infamous Jax Teller was here with. Maybe 15 years ago, if they’d been at this gas station together when they were either coming or going from the high school, she might’ve been more than a little embarrassed to be seen here with him. That only would’ve been fodder for the never-ending rumor mill surrounding her, and no excuse or backstory would’ve been enough to convince people, at the time, that they weren’t at that gas station to pick up something like...condoms.

Now, she didn’t care.

“Well, she had to go to the bathroom,” Jax was saying into his phone now as they headed for the sidewalk. “So I found her one.”

He winked at her knowingly, and she just rolled her eyes. Sure, because  _ that  _ was exactly what had happened.

“We’re on our way back right now. Oh...that fucking sucks. Sorry, Ma. Yeah, I’m sorry we missed it too. We’ll be back soon. Okay, bye.”

Then he snapped his phone shut and tossed it back inside his cut as he told her. “Apparently, the firefighters won this year.”

“I bet she’s pretty pissed, huh?”

“Yeah,” he grinned. “And then some. And, apparently, you had some people pretty worried about you too. I guess Dan was losing his mind trying to find you because you didn’t have your phone on you.”

And, Gemma’s first inclination was to call her son, because she figured they’d be together…?

“Which was all your fault, by the way.”

Jax frowned back at her, but his eyes still held the same playfulness that had been there before. “Hey, I tried to help you. I couldn’t have known it would blow up so epically in my face.”

“Right,” she eyed him warily. “Because if Mr. Collins was really that old, and really that drunk all the time, he wouldn’t have been fired or at least retired by now?”

He just lifted a shoulder good-naturedly as he reached for the peanut butter cups in her hand and tore open the package. “It was worth a shot.”

“Well, maybe it’s for the best that we weren’t breaking and entering into the high school anyway.”

Jax just shrugged again as he passed her a peanut butter cup and then started to unwrap one for himself. “If we’d gotten caught, at least I would’ve had my lawyer with me.”

“Sure,” Allie laughed. She took a bite of the peanut butter cup Jax had given her and closed her eyes as the chocolate and peanut butter melted in her mouth.  _ So _ good. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d let herself have one of these. “It would’ve been weird walking around in there though.”

“You been back since we graduated?”

“No,” she shook her head quickly. “I’ve never really had a reason to. I don’t really want to either.”

Jax nodded, his lips curling up in a sad, knowing smile. “Yeah, I get that. You’re right, though. That would’ve been a weird blast from the past, huh?”

It definitely would’ve, considering in the past, they’d never actually walked around those school hallways together in any way. They’d always been walking in opposite directions, never side by side. 

“Yeah, well, I spent more time there trying to be invisible than I care to remember.”

Jax huffed out a laugh as he reached for his cigarettes inside his cut. “Trying to be invisible? I never got that impression from you. If I remember right, you spent more time in the library than anything - and when you weren’t in the library, you were on some committee or some shit like that. And  _ then,  _ when you weren’t doin’ that, you were actively avoiding having anything to do with us at school.”

Alright. So he really went there. If he wanted to play, then she’d play too.

“And why would you have even cared?” she prodded. “You were too busy walking around like you owned the place to notice I avoided you and Ope like the plague.”

“That’s because I  _ did  _ own the place,” Jax grinned as he slid a cigarette out of the pack. “And, I guess if there was one thing you failed at in school, it was being invisible.”

Her head turned to look at him, but he’d already busied himself with bringing his lighter to his cigarette, holding a hand around the open flame to get it to light. Then he took a few long pulls from the cigarette, pushing out smoke through his nostrils, and keeping his eyes fixed firmly on the sidewalk in front of them.

Allie’s first inclination was to feel a little wounded that for all her efforts to stay as under the radar as humanly possible, for her at least, she’d failed miserably. She didn’t like to fail at anything. And, apparently, no matter what she did, people saw her and talked about her and laughed about her. She’d stuck out like a sore thumb - that girl whose parents were porn stars. There’d been nothing she could do to change that and all her efforts were just wasted time.

And then, as his words swam around her mind, it became clearer and clearer that he hadn’t been talking about  _ other _ people. She’d failed at being invisible to  _ him.  _ He’d noticed her. He’d seen her, whether she’d wanted him to or not. 

Then her mind drifted back to the time they’d spent on her patio not that long ago, when, after eating takeout tacos and guacamole together, Jax had nonchalantly enlightened her on the real reason he’d gotten suspended for a week all those years ago. While she’d obviously heard about the fight between him and what’s-his-face, and had heard that guy had been talking about her, she’d never put two and two together about it. At the time, she’d never had a reason to believe Jax would’ve ever done anything like that because of her. He never noticed her, right? And when he did, he’d always dismissed her and treated her like a piece of dirt under his shoe. What did he care if some idiot was talking shit about her?

But almost 15 years later, he still remembered that night. Remembered seeing her there, when she didn’t even remember seeing him. He’d even remembered what she was  _ wearing _ . He’d noticed her. He’d gotten into a fight for her. He’d gotten suspended for her. And she’d never known any of it.

And now, she was starting to wonder if her crush had been as hopelessly one-sided as she’d always thought.

Not that it made sense. Or even remotely computed. But it was there...lingering in her thoughts as they ventured closer to the high school’s parking lot again with an uneasy silence permeating between them.

* * *

“I can’t believe you won’t even  _ try  _ it! It’s delicious!”

Dan eyed the greasy corn dog in Allie’s outstretched hand like it was filled with ebola. Or a whole bucketful of trans fat. “You couldn’t  _ pay  _ me enough to put that thing in my mouth.”

Allie snickered at that, and then took another bite of her corn dog just to rub it in his face. 

“Ugh. That’s disgusting.”

“It is not.”

“Whatever,” he batted a hand at her before his eyebrows darted around conspiratorially. They’d gotten separated from the group briefly, as some drifted to different food stands to get their dinner. Then after figuring the coast was clear, Dan nudged her with his elbow, “So we’re not even going to  _ talk  _ about it?”

“Talk about what?”

Dan’s dark eyes narrowed dangerously. “Your little disappearing act. That’s what.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Mmmkay,” he nodded bitchily as he pulled out a long chunk of cotton candy from the cone in his hand and plopped it in his mouth. “That’s incredibly disappointing, Alexandra.”

“Whatever, Daniel.”

Now, Dan’s eyes lit up a little at something over her head, and Allie turned to see Piper walking their way. Only she wasn’t alone - there was a very lanky, very nervous-looking red-headed boy walking next to her, who looked a little like he was on the verge of vomiting. And then she realized there was a bunch of gruff, stone-faced bikers in leather Reaper cuts headed right for them.

Piper made a beeline over to where Allie and Dan stood, and the boy with her was right on her heels. Almost like they were running for cover. By now, Lyla and Gemma, who’d paired off together to grab something to drink from a stand on the other side of the ferris wheel, joined up with them. Lyla’s narrowed eyes looked the boy up and down, as if she was trying to size him up to determine if he was really good enough to even be standing next to her daughter. Gemma, for her part, just looked amused by the whole thing.

“Hey, Pipes,” Opie called out, stepping forward so he was walking ahead of Jax to close the space between them. “Who’s your friend?”

Piper swallowed tightly and bravely gestured to the boy next to her. “This is Dylan.”

Opie’s face might have spread apart in a grin, but there was nothing friendly or welcoming about his smile. “Hey there, Dylan.”

Dylan waved shyly, and Allie heard Tig chuckle somewhere off to the side. Even Jax tilted his head a little to the side, sizing Dylan up, with his arms folded tightly across his leather-covered chest. 

Poor, poor Dylan.

“Hi, Mr. Winston,” Dylan nodded shakily before finding Lyla in the crowd and smiling painfully at her. “Mrs. Winston.”

Allie had to bite back a grin at hearing Opie called  _ Mr. Winston _ , by a teenager no less. He didn’t look particularly amused by it though.

“Hi, Dylan,” Lyla called out to him. At least she was cordial enough to at least pretend to be friendly. “What are you kids up to tonight?”

“We were just gonna go on a few of the rides,” Piper jumped in quickly. “Maybe watch the fireworks later.”

Lyla nodded easily, but she was still watching Dylan like a hawk. “Okay. That sounds like fun. And we’re still meeting at the truck at 10:30, right?”

“Right, Mom,” Piper told her exasperatedly. “I’ll see you at the truck at 10:30.”

“And keep your phone on. You need to answer when I text you, okay?”

“Okay, Mom.”

Now, Piper’s blue eyes frantically searched through their small crowd before landing on Allie, as if to say  _ help! _

Allie smiled at her reassuringly, stepping around Opie, and narrowly brushing past Jax’s shoulder, to get in between Piper and her sort of, kind of boyfriend and these intimidating bikers and their women. She dug into her purse, groping for something and anything that she could use as an excuse, unearthed her lipstick and handed it to Piper.

“You were asking me about the lipstick I was wearing before?” Allie threw out, eyeing Piper carefully to make sure she understood. “This is what I was talking about, if you wanted to see the color.”

Piper grinned back, her shoulders relaxing a little now that there was a buffer in between them all. She took the lipstick and slipped it into her jeans pocket. “Thanks, Allie.”

“You know,” Allie leaned in. “I think I saw a bowling game over on the other side of the carnival. Are you headed over there to give it a try? I’ve got lots of tickets if you need them.”

Piper laughed a little, glancing at Dylan shyly, who just bit down on his lip to keep from reacting. “I think we’re good with tickets for now. And yeah. We’ll head over to that bowling game.”

“Just bowling, right? That’s the only game you’re planning to play tonight?”

Piper just laughed again, some of her long blonde hair shaking out in front of her. “That’s it.”

“Alright,” Allie smiled back at her warmly before putting a hand on her shoulder to give her a little shove. “Go have fun.”

Piper gave everyone behind her a little wave goodbye and then immediately turned on her heel to get as far away from them as possible. Not like Allie really blamed her because when she turned around again, she found Opie staring down at her with an annoyed eyebrow cocked her way.

“What?”

Opie just shook his head at her. “Don’t be giving her makeup, Allie.”

“Oh, come on,” she laughed. “She’s 15, not 10. Besides, if you see Dylan walking around this carnival later with lipstick all over his face, then you know what they’ve been up to.”

Opie rocked back on his heels as he considered that thought before nodding to himself. “Alright. I guess I see your point.”

By now, she realized that Dan and Gemma were walking somewhere in the opposite direction, arm in arm. Tig and Happy had found a rifle-shooting game a few booths away. She was also pretty sure she heard “Your Love” by The Outfield blaring from the loud speakers around the carnival. Things were going to start deteriorating around here pretty quickly, she could feel it.

Then, a ringed hand reached out to her.

Luckily for her, that hand also belonged to Bobby.

“Whatdya say, sweetheart?” he grinned broadly at her and pointed to the ferris wheel. “You wanna go for a spin?”

She gingerly slipped her hand into his to let him lead her towards the ride. “I’d love to.”

“You know,” he wagged a finger at her as they boarded the ride and slid their guard rail in place. “I figured it out. It was streaking, right? Public indecency or somethin’ like that? I’d like to think that would be enough to get kicked out of a sorority.”

“I think it probably would be,” Allie laughed, even as her stomach flipped a little when the ride started. “But that’s not it.”

As their car shuffled backward to let the next riders on, it stopped right at eye-level with the small group they’d left behind - mainly, just Opie, Lyla, and Jax since everyone else seemed to be doing their own thing right now. Opie had his arms wrapped tightly around his wife, murmuring something into her ear that made her smile and kiss his cheek. Jax stood off to the side of them with his hands in his pockets and his back to the ride, and as their car stopped next to them, he turned his head to face them.

Allie waited, expecting him to see that ever-present cocky smirk on his face. Instead, his eyes softened when their gazes met, and his eyes still followed them just long enough until the ride carried them farther away and up the first climb to the very top of the ferris wheel.

“Well, I’m gonna figure it out eventually,” Bobby was telling her now.

“You won’t,” Allie replied softly, her eyes still unable to tear themselves from Jax, who’d long since turned back to talk to Opie and Lyla. She sucked in a long breath - she really needed to get a hold of herself.

“You know, sweetheart,” Bobby murmured. “I haven’t gotten a chance to tell you this yet, but you’re doin’ a helluva job.”

“I haven’t done all that much, Bobby.”

“Sure, you have,” he grinned brightly, his wiry hair floating in the breeze as they reached the top. “It may not seem like much to you because, to you, you’re just doin’ your job, right? But to us...I can say with complete confidence that you’ve been a lifesaver, both figuratively and literally speaking.”

She felt her lips curl up into a soft smile, even as Bobby’s eyes dropped to the figures on the ground, who looked a lot less intimidating now that she was up high and with considerable distance between them.

“And,” Bobby went on. “You can take this however you wanna take it, but our prez is a better man with you around. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, girl, and you’re makin’ him stop and think about things differently. There’s nothin’ but good that can come of that.”

“Thanks, Bobby,” she smiled back at him.

While she wasn’t quite sure exactly how he’d meant it, or how she should really take that, she’d still take the compliment for what it was. As the ride slowed down, she pulled her leather jacket around her a little tighter. She’d told herself she could have fun today, and somehow, things had taken a turn pretty quickly. It was somewhere during her walk with Jax back to the parking lot, before the carnival had really gotten underway, right around the time he’d told her she wasn’t invisible and then refused to make eye contact with her. As if he’d said too much and he knew it. As if he’d crossed some invisible line that wasn’t so invisible to either of them anymore.

It didn’t help that, for the next few hours of the carnival, the group was mostly scattered, with each little faction doing their own thing. After their ferris wheel ride ended, Bobby had waved goodbye and then left her to her own devices to meet up with Tig and Happy at the rifle-shooting game. Dan and Gemma had long since disappeared, probably on some grand adventure. Juice and Chibs were nowhere to be found. And then Opie and Lyla disappeared inside the photo booth...and were still in there.

Leaving Allie standing in the middle of the carnival, staring back at Jax, who just rocked back on his heels with his hands on his pockets.

“Well, darlin’,” he grinned at her. “Looks like it’s just me and you.”

She let herself smile back at him - this was supposed to be fun, right? Her heart fluttered in her chest at the way he nudged her with his elbow, the way he smirked down at her, the way he seemed to be looking at her like she was the only other person at this carnival.

“Looks like it,” Allie told him, and then she started toward the bumper cars, knowing he was going to follow her over there. She tipped her chin to the ride’s entrance. “You up for it?”

Jax’s lips spread apart in a cocky grin. “I was born ready.”

“We’ll see about that.”

They were still laughing as they handed their tickets to the kid at the entrance, taking off to jump into the low bumper cars on opposite sides of the little arena. When the cars came to life, Allie didn’t waste a second, pumping the pedal with her heel to race right into the back of Jax’s car, sending him lurching forward from the impact.

“Oh, you are dead!” he yelled out from over his shoulder, spinning his car around to ram it right into her front bumper before she had a chance to whirl out of the way.

Her head tipped back as she laughed, and she kept laughing when he backed up and then rammed into her front bumper again. Some kid bumped Jax from behind, giving her the opening she needed to get herself back in gear and attack him again, and then again. When the cars’ electricity shut off, signaling that the ride was over, Jax hopped out of his bumper car, light on his feet, and jogged over to her car.

He held out his hand to her, his blue eyes glimmering with amusement, and she playfully batted his hand away as she unbuckled her seat belt and got out of the bumper car on her own, and without flashing anyone her underwear in the process too. Still, as they made their way out of the little bumper car arena, she felt his hand ghost over the small of her back to steer her toward the exit.

Allie kept walking right toward one of the food carts off to the side, knowing full that he was going to follow her. She had a feeling he’d follow her just about anywhere she went tonight.

They were silent as they moved along the line at the food cart, shoulder to shoulder, and his closeness momentarily flooded her senses. There it was...that scent of spices and gasoline again. Her chest was rising and falling a little more rapidly now, and she just...let herself feel and not think so much. 

And when Jax reached for his back pocket after she ordered a bag of kettle corn, Allie was tempted to roll her eyes at him, to tell him that she was an independent career woman who was more than capable of paying for her own kettle corn. She didn’t  _ need  _ him to pay for her. But she let him do it anyway.

“Thanks,” Allie told him as he handed the guy behind the food cart a couple bills to pay for her kettle corn. “I was worried you didn’t have any cash left, you know, after your chili purchase earlier today.”

Jax huffed out a laugh as he shoved his wallet into his back pocket and then reached for some popcorn from the bag in her hand. “No problem, Allie.”

“You mind if we find a picnic table or something? My feet are killing me.”

He grinned at her as he tossed a few pieces of popcorn into his mouth, gesturing for her to lead the way with his other hand. It took a little while, but she finally found an empty picnic table behind a long row of carnival booths and games, just in front of the school’s baseball diamond. She sank down into the picnic table with her back to the table, pushing her feet out in front of her as she kicked her heels off, acutely aware that Jax had followed her lead and now sat about six inches away from her.

“That’s better,” she sighed, resting her elbows on the table behind her.

“I don’t know why you ladies bother with heels if they hurt that much,” he laughed next to her.

“Because heels make our outfits look better,” Allie shot back. “And, besides, I need the extra height, if you know what I mean.”

“Sure,” Jax chuckled as he grabbed another handful of kettle corn from their bag. Just as he brought his hand up to his mouth, his movements froze in mid-air, and then he nudged her with his elbow, pointing at two figures moving around in the distance. “Look! You see that?”

Allie leaned forward, squinting a little, despite the fact that it was too dark out now to even really see what he was pointing at. But that long blonde hair  _ was  _ familiar. “Oh, wow. Is that…?”

“Sure looks like it,” Jax murmured. “But, hey, at least we can keep an eye on them. Make sure that kid she’s with keeps his hands to himself.”

“Do you think they can see us?”

Jax leaned a little to one side, as if to gauge whether or not Piper and Dylan were really close enough, or aware of their surroundings enough, to figure out they were being observed. “Nah. I don’t think so. Even if they could, I don’t think that’s exactly what’s on their minds right about now.”

“Then I guess it’s a good thing we’re here.”

“Probably.”

Allie shrugged. “So what do we do if they start making out or something?”

“Well, Allie, you take one of those heels, and I’ll take the other and -”

She smacked him in the chest before he could finish that thought, and he laughed heartily before snatching the popcorn bag out of her hand to help himself. 

“We don’t have to take it that far,” she informed him with a grin. “I wouldn’t tell Lyla or Ope if all they were doing was kissing anyway. If that’s as far as it goes, then I say good for Piper.”

“Maybe we’d give ‘em a little bit of privacy then?”

“Sure. But with a safe distance away so we could come after him with my heels if we had to.”

“Right,” he laughed brightly. “The fireworks should be startin’ soon anyway.”

Allie’s eyes drifted back to the young couple in the distance and she smiled wistfully. “I hope she’s having a good time. I remember what that’s like, you know? Being 15 and having absolutely no idea what I was doing about anything. You’re just sort of flailing around, hoping you figure it out before you do something really stupid.”

“How is that any different than being 32, huh?” Jax laughed. “I thought I’d have this adult thing all figured out by now, but look at me,” he gestured to himself with a small smile, “I’m definitely a work in progress.”

“I think that’s okay,” she told him and found herself smiling right back at him. “I don’t know if we’re supposed to have it all figured out anyway. At least we have the advantage of already having made some mistakes that we can at least try to bounce back from. They might not be that lucky yet. Or,” she swallowed tightly, “maybe they  _ are  _ lucky. Luckier than us, I mean.”

“Well,” Jax allowed as he handed the popcorn bag back to her so he could reach inside his cut for his cigarettes. “I know what  _ I _ was doing when I was 15. And I’d like to think I was gettin’ pretty damn lucky then.”

Allie huffed out a laugh, but her eyes still drifted back to where Piper sat by the baseball diamond. “Easy for you to say.”

Jax shot her a wary side-eye. “Why? ‘Cuz it’s different for girls?”

“Sure,” she shrugged. “But even then, don’t you think, knowing what we know now, that 15 feels a little...too  _ young _ ?”

“Too young for what?” Jax lifted his eyebrows in amusement.

Allie pushed out an exasperated sigh. He knew full well what she was talking about, but he was going to make her say it out loud. “More than kissing.”

“Ah,” he nodded as he lit up a cigarette. “Well, now that I think about it...maybe,” then he glanced at her with a glint in his eye, “so how old were you when you started doing...more than kissing?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “How old were  _ you _ ?”

“Do you really wanna know the answer to that?”

“I don’t know,” Allie wavered a little at that. Maybe she really  _ didn’t _ want to know the answer to that.

“I’ll tell you if you tell me,” Jax grinned knowingly, and then, without hesitation, he jumped right into it, “I was 13,” he shrugged as he flicked some ash from his cigarette. “Piney pushed some croweater at me in the clubhouse, she took me back to some empty room, and that was it.”

“Huh,” that was about the best she could offer. That actually sounded a little horrifying. “Thirteen is...that’s young.”

He was silent for a few moments, quietly taking a drag from his cigarette and blowing out the smoke through his nostrils before she heard his voice again. “Yeah.”

Then Jax shifted gears, turning the tables on her now, gesturing to her that it was her turn. “So?”

“Oh boy,” Allie sighed, even as he chuckled next to her. “I suppose fair is fair. If you really want to know, I was 18.”

“Eighteen, huh?” Jax cocked an eyebrow at her. “I don’t know. That doesn’t sound quite as bad as 13, now that I’m sayin’ it out loud.”

“Maybe not,” she shrugged. “But I guess...at that point I just wanted to get it over with. It was my second weekend at college, I went to my second party on campus, took a few shots, and just wanted to get it behind me, I guess. And now that I’m saying it out loud, that sounds kinda bad too.”

“Maybe just a little,” he grinned back at her.

“In my defense, I  _ did  _ try to date the guy for a couple weeks after that. I just figured that was what a person should do after having sex with another person, especially after the first time. Ugh, he was so boring though.”

Jax huffed out a laugh, despite the fact that he shifted uncomfortably next to her.

“He really was. All he did was sit around and play  _ Call of Duty _ with his football buddies and drink beer. That’s pretty much it. Needless to say, it did not last long.”

“Well,” Jax chuckled as he flicked some more ash from his cigarette. “His loss.”

“Maybe,” Allie allowed with a small smile. “But, maybe it doesn’t matter if you’re a boy or a girl, right? Whether you’re 13 or 15 or 18...but that being said, it really  _ is  _ different for Piper. Because not only does she have to sit there and worry about if he’s going to kiss her, does she  _ want _ him to kiss her, does she want it to go any further, and how far she’s willing to let him go, she also has to worry if this kid has seen any of her mom’s movies. If he’s expecting her to do anything that Lyla’s done on film and what he’s going to do if she doesn’t. If the only reason he’s sitting there with her right now is because she’s a porn star’s daughter and then he can go tell all his friends he hooked up with her.”

Jax’s gaze drifted over to where Piper and Dylan sat by the baseball diamond, a long trail of smoke billowing from his nostrils as he exhaled. He stared at the two teens for a few moments, flicking some ash from his cigarette in thought, and then he shifted his gaze back to her.

“And how long do you think it’s gonna take until she stops worrying about that?”

Allie smiled at him sadly. “Definitely through high school. All of college too, that’s for sure. It gets worse in college. A lot worse.”

He nodded tightly, his eyes dropping down to their feet as he took another long pull from his cigarette. “And after college?”

“It’s a little easier,” she just lifted a shoulder. “The rumor mill isn’t quite as active, and you can be a little pickier about who knows what because your social circle shrinks to about five people the second you graduate.”

He huffed out a laugh, but there wasn’t a whole lot of humor or amusement in it.

“But,” she smiled. “I guess, for me, I signed myself for a whole lifetime of being sexualized when I started working for my dad at the studio, didn’t I?”

Now, his head turned so he could look at her again. “Why  _ do  _ you work at the studio anyway? I mean, don’t take this the wrong way, darlin’, but you’re not really the type of girl I would expect to see walkin’ around a porn studio, even as a lawyer,” and then he smiled a little as he corrected himself, “an  _ actual  _ lawyer. Not just one in  _ The Hung Jurist _ or somethin’ like that.”

“Okay, so Lyla  _ is  _ the type of girl you’d expect to see walking around a porn studio?”

He shot her an exasperated look. “You know what I mean.”

“You’re right,” Allie sighed heavily. “I guess...I’ve just always been around it, you know? This might come as a shock to you, but it really doesn’t bother me. I mean, I would rather wash my eyeballs with bleach than watch one of my dad’s or Dan’s movies, or Lyla’s, for that matter, but beyond that, I really don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. People are allowed to be into whatever they’re into - within reason, of course - and so what if that’s what they’re into? I think a healthy sexual expression is always a good thing, and if our movies help people figure out what they’re into, in a safe, controlled way, then I don’t see why that’s a bad thing.”

Jax’s lips curled into a sexy smirk. “A healthy sexual expression, huh?”

“That’s what you took from what I just said?”

He held his hands up in defense as some more smoke pushed out of his nostrils. “Alright, alright.”

“I guess,” she shrugged. “The easiest way I can explain it is...it’s sort of like you with the club, right? It takes a certain kind of person to actively seek it out, but it’s different for you because you were born into it. That’s what you know. That’s what you grew up around. There’s nothing wrong with that. And it’s the same way with me and the studio.”

“Alright,” he allowed, tilting his head to the side as he regarded her thoughtfully. “I can get behind that.  _ But  _ all that being said, I have to say, I would’ve expected you to run the opposite way...just get as far away from it as possible and never look back. I mean, you could be kickin’ ass at some fancy firm in LA or something like that, but you’re here, in Charming, workin’ for the studio and the club.”

She knew exactly what he meant by that. Given the way she’d tried to separate herself from her parents’ legacy as much as humanly possible, the way rumors had trailed after her left and right, why, after all that, would she consciously choose to work for a porn studio?

It was a fair question, and one she knew she couldn’t really answer honestly. At least not completely. If she did answer honestly, he would just have more questions. And  _ those _ questions were ones she’d never answer.

“I guess, somewhere in between high school and college, I figured out that nobody’s opinion of me matters more than mine.”

It was a cagey response, at best. She knew that. But it was the most she was willing to give him.

He studied her for a few long moments before his mouth curved into a soft smirk. There was definitely some amusement in his blue eyes, but she saw some other things too...there was some understanding there. Maybe a little bit of sympathy. More than a little respect.

“A’ight,” Jax smiled. “Fair enough.”

They sat there at that picnic table for a few moments. That uneasiness she’d felt earlier with him, when they’d walked back together from the gas station...that was gone now. This was a comfortable silence. Without any tension or misunderstanding. Or, newfound understanding that still didn’t quite compute. They just sat there, reaching into the same popcorn paper bag, keeping an eye on the young couple just beyond them, and watching as some of the firefighters started their final preparations for the fireworks to come as a John Mayer cover of a Beyonce song echoed softly over the loudspeakers behind them.

“You know,” Jax nudged her with his elbow. “I know a little bit about what you were talkin’ about before. I know it’s not exactly the same ‘cuz I’m a guy, but I think I know what you mean when you said you were signin’ yourself up to be sexualized for the rest of your life.”

“Oh really?” she laughed.

“Now, just hear me out,” he grinned. “I’ll be the first to admit wearin’ this cut has a lot of perks, okay? I’ve never had any problems...” he trailed off, frowning as he fumbled a little for the right words.

“Getting laid?” Allie offered lightly.

His lips twisted playfully, and he shifted his elbow next to her as he leaned back against the picnic table. “Exactly.”

“That’s what I thought.”

_ Of course you don’t have any problems getting laid,  _ she thought wryly.

“Right,” Jax laughed. “That just always came with the territory, you know? The second you put that cut on, chicks practically start undressing themselves in public as soon as they see you.”

“So…” she tilted her head to the side to shoot him a wary glance. “This is bad?”

“No,” Jax laughed again. This time, he shifted his elbow again so that his forearm fell onto the table behind her. “It’s not. And it definitely wasn’t a problem when I was 15 - like our buddy, Dylan, over there - or 16, or 21...you get the idea. I mean, sure, hook-ups are fine. That’s what I would consider a healthy form of  _ sexual expression _ if that’s what you’re into,” he grinned at her, and that grin only widened when she swatted him playfully on the shoulder. “But at some point, that stopped being so much fun. At least, not as much fun as it used to be. It just sorta becomes part of the lifestyle, part of the culture, but that doesn’t mean that’s somethin’ I want anymore.”

He paused then to take another long drag from his cigarette, and didn’t speak again until he blew the smoke out in pillowy rings in the air.

“I guess what I’m tryin’ to say is...at a certain point, that starts to get old pretty damn fast. It’s kinda like you said - are guys only tryin’ to get in your pants because of who your mom is and because they think that makes you just like her...or do they actually wanna be with you? It’s the same thing - all those chicks who’re throwin’ their panties in my face...is that only because of my cut? My bike? My patch? Is that really all they can see about me?”

Allie watched him carefully, taking in the way he kept his eyes focused on what the firefighters were doing off in the distance, the way his shoulders stiffened a little when she shifted next to him, the way his right forearm had drifted lazily behind her back, and her heart stuttered a little in her chest.

Then the arm behind her back reached up to her shoulder to give it a little shake as he pointed at Piper and Dylan with his other hand. “Oh...oh, he’s goin’ for it. He’s gonna do it…”

Allie grimaced a little as Dylan awkwardly leaned in and kissed Piper on the lips. She sucked in a breath, feeling kind of like a voyeur watching these teenagers kiss in the distance, and trying not to wait for the other shoe to drop. Trying not to wait for the moment they really did need to go running over there and beat Dylan over the head with her heels.

“I kinda feel like we shouldn’t be watching this, Jax.”

“Hey, you’re allowed to be into whatever you’re into. This  _ is _ kinda boring though.”

“Definitely pretty vanilla,” she smiled.

“Definitely.”

It was then that she realized Jax still hadn’t moved the hand he’d put on her shoulder before. In fact, it had drifted over the side of her shoulder, with his fingertips lazily draped against her leather jacket.

And then, it ended almost as quickly as it started. Piper leaned back, cutting their kiss short, and Dylan followed suit, dutifully leaning away with his hands firmly in his lap, and nowhere near Piper.

“Good for you, Pipes,” Allie whispered into the night air.

Jax leaned in a little, his forehead creasing into a frown. “What was that, Allie?”

“Nothing,” she smiled back. “She’s bowling.”

“What?” he laughed.

Allie just smiled softly at him. A lone firework flew up into the darkness, whistling through the night sky and erupting into a crackle of waterfall sparks. Bright colors lit up the night, reflecting off Jax’s face and illuminating everything she’d always seen in him, even when she was just a stupid kid, flailing around without a shot of doing anything right.

The hand draped lazily over her shoulder tugged her in just a bit closer, drawing her in against his warmth, and the safety she found there. And then, she let her instincts take over from there. 

Her head lowered down until it rested gently against his shoulder, turning her face up to the night, and seeing the world a little differently for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Sunday! Thank you to everyone who's reading and commenting (and leaving kudos too!)! I think this was the one everyone was waiting for because there's just no going back now, you know? 
> 
> I can't wait to hear your thoughts on their kinda, sorta first date (I mean, I think we can all agree that's what that was at the carnival, even if neither of them would be willing to admit it right now). Look for another update on Wednesday!


	17. Chapter Seventeen

Allie pulled up to the parking lot and smiled to herself when she saw that there was already a motorcycle parked off to the side. Its owner was unsnapping his helmet, still seated on the bike, and then he swept off the helmet to reveal that familiar slicked-back blonde hair. She’d told Bobby that whoever the club was sending today needed to be here by 1:45, and as she glanced at the clock on her dashboard, she bit down on her bottom lip to hide her smile.

It was 1:42. 

He was learning. And listening, it seemed.

She resisted the urge to check her makeup in her visor mirror - it didn’t matter. Her power outfit today did all the work for her anyway. Given that she was mostly here to conduct interviews today, she’d needed to look approachable, at least in this setting, but also look like someone who didn’t take shit from anyone. It was a difficult balance to find in her wardrobe, but with Dan’s help, she’d found that balance in a high-waisted black leather skirt that fell just past her knees and a black bodysuit cutout in a sweetheart neckline with sheer black material covering up to her neck and just past her elbows. Both hard and soft, approachable and tough at the same time, depending on which line she needed to take with which employee.

With that thought, she grabbed her bag, glancing at her phone one last time before switching it on silent. Her heart sank at the text message she found on her screen:

_ I really need some help, Allie. Just $200. Or whatever you can spare. Please, honey, I just need some help. _

Allie pushed out a heavy sigh. Yeah, her mom really did need help. Just not the kind of help she was asking for. And since she’d been strong and held her ground ever since she’d told her mom she just couldn’t help her in that way anymore, Anna persisted. Every few days, sometimes there was a little more time in between, but...she still texted to ask for money.

So, Allie typed out the same response she’d given Anna for the last few weeks:  _ I’m sorry, Mom. I can’t. _

Almost two seconds later, her phone pinged with a response, but she switched it on silent and tossed it in her purse. She’d responded for now, and would just have to deal with it later. 

She had a few hours to spend in a strip club today.

By the time she slid out of her car and had both heels on the pavement, Jax was already sauntering her way with that cool swagger he always seemed to carry. His blue eyes trailed up and down the length of her as he walked toward her, and his lips curled into that ever-present smirk she’d grown so accustomed to.

Her heart flitted in her chest, tightening just a little when he closed the distance between them and stopped a pace in front of her. She hadn’t seen him since the fundraiser three days ago, and now that he was standing in front of her, she realized that...she’d missed him. She’d missed that cocky grin and that easy swagger. Those sparkling blue eyes. The way he teased her. The way he pushed her. The way he made her feel like she was standing right on the edge of a cliff. The longer he stood there in front of her, the more she felt like she might be able to jump off that cliff. Just the thought of that had her knees quaking in her leather skirt.

“Hey, darlin’,” Jax grinned down at her. He pushed his hands into his front pockets and rocked back on his heels. She was starting to wonder why he always seemed to do that around her. Was it a nervous tic or something?

“Hi, Jax,” she replied, letting her lips twist into a smile and also wanting to kick herself a little for how breathless her voice sounded right now.

His eyes flashed and then he gestured with his head toward the front entrance. She followed his lead, falling into step next to him, and swallowing hard when his hand ghosted over the small of her back until they got to the door. He grabbed the door for her with a grin, sweeping a hand in front of him to let her pass through first. Once they were inside the club, Jax shoved his hands in his front pockets again as they ventured over to the bar.

“So what’s exactly on the agenda for today anyway?” he murmured in her ear.

Allie shot him a wary side-eye as she slid into the barstool he’d pulled out for her.   


“What?” he laughed.

When she’d set up this meeting with Dominic King yesterday, and subsequently called Jax to let him know the meeting was set, she’d emailed Bobby the details of her plans for today - mainly performing an inventory of whatever paperwork Dominic was willing to give her and interviewing as many dancers as she could with the time Dominic allowed. Bobby had responded that the club would send someone to meet her there as a “representative.” It could’ve easily been any of them - all they needed to do was sit there. She understood the importance of having someone from Samcro sit with her today, for both club reasons and safety reasons, and hadn’t replied to Bobby to find out who was going to be meeting her today.

Maybe she hadn’t replied because she’d already known who was showing up here today.

Sure, sending Bobby made more sense. He was going to be helping her sort through some of the financial documents from the strip club anyway, and could’ve started sifting through some of the information while she interviewed the dancers. Opie would’ve made sense too, if all they wanted was someone to wait at the bar and act more as a bodyguard than anything.

But Jax had come instead. 

And he’d, presumably, shown up here today without knowing, and probably without even caring, what they were really doing here. 

She was here, so he was here.

“Nothing,” Allie smiled back.

He winked at her as he dropped into the barstool next to her, careful to give her the space she needed to spread out her laptop and some paperwork she’d brought along, but close enough so that all he’d have to do to touch her was reach out a hand.

“So, you’re really not gonna tell me what we’re doin’ here?” Jax leaned in to murmur in her ear.

Allie turned her head to look at him, taking in a breath that was a little harsher than she would’ve liked. That felt like a loaded question, even if he hadn’t meant it that way.

“Well, hopefully, our friend Dominic King will willingly hand over everything I need him to.”

Jax grinned back at her, shifting his elbow on the bartop so he could lean in closer to her.

“And,” she pushed on. “I’m going to be interviewing some of the dancers today, too. I need to dig in a little more to find out how this whole place operates, and the only way to do that is by starting with the employees.”

He nodded slowly as he considered everything she’d just said. “You need me to sit in on those interviews with you?”

“No,” she huffed out a laugh. “You really think any of those girls are going to be honest with me if you’re sitting there too? They’ll be too busy staring at you to form a coherent sentence.”

It was right around the time that his mouth curved into a sexy lop-sided grin that she realized exactly what she’d just said to  _ him _ . Out loud. 

“I have a better shot of getting them to be honest with me if it’s just me in the room,” she tried to recover. “Some of the questions I need to ask...I think it’s better if there isn’t a man in the room, if you know what I mean.”

Now he nodded, his eyebrows creasing into a slight frown. She wondered if he had any idea just what kind of questions she needed to ask, or if he was starting to put together the kind of information she really needed to know, at least where this strip club was concerned. She wasn’t looking forward to these interviews, but they were a necessary evil to really get to the crux of Dominic King and the way he ran his business.

She shuffled some of the paperwork in front of her, and opened up the spreadsheet on her laptop that she’d created to inventory the documents Dominic gave her, and she’d just clicked through a few pieces of intel she already had when she felt Jax lean in to squint at her computer screen. Then his calloused fingertips brushed the top of her right shoulder until his ringed hand draped lazily over the side of her shoulder, just like it had when they’d watched the fireworks together at the carnival.

“Is that a spreadsheet?” Jax laughed, shaking his head a little.

“Why is that funny?” she turned her head to face him, but her breath caught in her throat at how close their faces were in that moment. His warm breath kissed her skin, and his eyes fixed squarely on her - that soft curve of his mouth silently asking her,  _ is this okay _ ?  _ How far are you gonna let me take this _ ? She wished she knew the answer to that. All she knew was that she didn’t want him to stop.

“You’re just…” he trailed off, his nose crinkling in thought. “Very organized, is all.”

“And that’s bad?” Allie laughed, acutely aware that neither of them had yet to lean away. “Would you rather I  _ not  _ be organized?”   
  


His lips curled into an easy smile. “I think I like you just the way you are.”

Her heart squeezed in her chest, and she sucked in a shaky breath. Jax’s gaze dropped to her lips before sweeping back up to meet her in the eye as the arm around her tucked her even closer underneath his shoulder.

He leaned in just a touch closer to murmur in her ear, “You’re kind of a workaholic though, aren’t you?”

“Most attorneys are,” she allowed with a smile.

Jax narrowed his eyes playfully. “You ever take a break, Allie?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “Shut off your computer, do something that’s not work-related...you know. Like that?”

“It’s been awhile,” she allowed. “I haven’t really had much time to even  _ think _ about making time to take a break.”

“I think you should.”

Her heart pounded lightly in her chest as her lips curved into a smile. “Alright. And what would you suggest I do?”

That smirk on his face only widened and his lips parted to respond, just as Dominic King materialized from a door behind the bar with a stack of papers in his hands. Dominic’s gaze immediately dropped to where Jax and Allie sat at the bar, his eyebrows lifting high into his forehead at the sight of Samcro’s president with his arm around his lawyer.

Jax’s arm slipped off her shoulder the second he realized Dominic had seen them, but he slid his hand to the small of her back. They leaned away from each other then as Dominic approached them with a greasy smile on his face and set the papers in his hand down in front of Allie.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt,” he told them easily. “I didn’t realize it was like that between you two, but I get it now. Can’t say I blame ya, Teller.”

Allie immediately stiffened, and she felt the hand at her back press a little bit harder as Jax’s fingertips clenched against the back of her leather skirt.

Dominic just shrugged, seemingly unfazed by their reactions, and tipped his chin to a dark hallway off to the side. “You know, I was thinkin’ about setting aside one of my back rooms over there for Samcro’s personal use - whenever you want it, it’s yours. You two wanna check it out before you leave, give it a test run, that’s no skin off my back.”

She dared a glance at Jax from the corner of her eye, and found him pinning his eyes into Dominic, his mouth set into a hard line.

“Thanks for the offer,” Jax replied roughly. “But that’s not what we’re here for.”

Dominic’s hands flew up in the air with a light shrug. “I got that. Cool. I’ve got no problems with the club cashin’ in on the perks of us being partnered up together though. I’m sure there are all kinds of  _ perks _ we can work out, right?”

Now, Jax slipped his hand from Allie’s back so he could fold both his hands tightly on top of the bartop in front of him. He flashed Dominic a wide grin that held just a touch of animosity. “What kinda  _ perks _ you talkin’ about?”

Dominic just shrugged. Either he was completely stupid or completely deranged. Allie wasn’t quite sure yet.

“Well, a back room, whenever you want it,” Dominic replied a little too easily. “Any of you guys want dances or anything like that, that’s on the house. Free booze too, obviously, whenever you guys are here. I’ve got no problems with that.”

Allie felt her eyes narrow at the words,  _ or anything like that _ , but she kept her gaze cool and focused on Dominic as he opened his mouth again.

“And,” he went on. “I’d hope I could use your lawyer here,” Dominic tipped his chin to Allie as he spoke, “for some consultation from time to time. That’s the deal you guys have, right? She’s full time over at Sweet Productions, but helps the club out too when you need it? I think something like that would really do me a solid around here.”

She was just too caught off-guard trying to sort through which parts of that were insinuating something and which parts they should take at face-value to jump in. Dominic was talking about her as though she wasn’t even sitting there, and his question was really directed at  _ Jax _ , not her. And she wanted to hear his answer.

Jax tilted his head to the side and he exhaled slowly, his knuckles clenching together ever so slightly. “Access to my lawyer isn’t up for negotiation. Sorry, bro.”

Dominic had the nerve to actually look slightly miffed, if not disappointed, by that flat dismissal, but he didn’t miss a beat after that. He nodded easily and then gestured to the stack of paperwork he’d set in front of Allie before with a good-natured grin. “There’s everything we talked about on the phone. I’m sure you’ll let me know if I forgot anything you needed.”

Allie cleared her throat quickly before nodding and sliding the papers closer to her so she could start looking through them. “Okay. Thanks.”

“Whenever you’re ready to start talking to the dancers, just let me know. They know you’re coming today and I think, if you’re good with it, you could probably just head back to the dressing room to talk to them. They’re all prepped and ready.”

Now, Allie felt herself pinning Dominic against the back wall of the bar with her eyes. What exactly did he mean by  _ prepped and ready _ ? But she schooled her expression into something a little more calmer and impassive to respond, “Alright. I’ll let you know when I’m ready. I just want to go through this paperwork first.”

And, really, it was just to do a quick inventory to make sure he’d actually given her everything he said he would. There was no point in interviewing any of the dancers if he wasn’t going to do that.

“No problem,” Dominic told her as he started to walk away, then his steps stalled behind the bar as he halted in place. He held up a finger before reaching into a nearby cooler for two beers and then set one down in front of Jax and the other in front of Allie.

Allie was prepared to just ignore that the beer was sitting in front of her. At this point, she didn’t want to make any more waves and just wanted to do these interviews so they could leave. Jax, apparently, didn’t feel the same.

“Hey, bro,” he called out to Dominic curtly. “She didn’t ask for that.”

Jax pushed the beer in front of her away. There was a smile on his face, sure, but it definitely wasn’t a friendly one. Dominic froze with a frown, like he wasn’t quite sure what he’d done that was so terrible. It wasn’t  _ really _ his fault - at least not this time.

“I don’t mind if she drinks on the job. No problems there. My bad, though, if that’s not the deal you’ve got with her.”

“That’s not it,” Jax told him, that mirthless smile still curving up his face. From the corner of her eye, Jax looked almost lethal. “I don’t appreciate you puttin’ a drink in front of her that she didn’t ask for.”

Allie leaned into him to murmur, “Jax, it’s fine. Just let it go, okay?”

When he didn’t respond, she thoughtlessly put her hand on top of his right thigh to get his attention. And she definitely got it. Jax’s blue eyes slammed into her with an intensity she was not prepared for. All playfulness that might’ve been there before was long gone, leaving just a trail of heat in its wake. He shifted his gaze away just long enough to tip his chin to Dominic and send him on his way, and then crashed back into her.

The heat warming her hand just about burned her, but she couldn’t tear her hand away if she tried. There was something...powerful in the knowledge that one touch from her could elicit that kind of electric reaction from Jax. Her heart was pounding even as her lips curved up into a knowing smile at him.

If she told him right now that she wanted to go to that back room Dominic had offered them, she knew Jax would follow her there in a heartbeat.

And then, she found herself wondering how he would react if she moved her hand and touched him somewhere else - would her touch leave that kind of jolt in its wake again? Or was it just because it was the first time she’d even attempted to touch him back? Before, he was always the one initiating physical contact between them. Now that the tables were turned, she liked the control he’d willingly handed over to her the second she touched him. Liked knowing that she could do just about anything she wanted to him right now and he’d let her do it.

All it had taken was one touch.

To test that theory, she slipped her fingertips a little bit deeper to the inside of his thigh. Not too far to skirt past the limits of what was acceptable in a public place, even in a strip club, but just far enough to see his nostrils flare. Now that she’d gotten what she wanted, Allie slipped her hand away until it rested on top of the bartop, where she busied herself with sorting through the paperwork sitting in front of her.

Allie kept her eyes in front of her, but still bit down on her bottom lip to hide a playful smile. If she looked at him right now, she just might lean over and kiss him and this wasn’t really the time or the place for that. From the corner of her eye, she watched him dig into that pocket inside his cut - a little anxiously, she noted - slide a cigarette out of the pack, light it just as quickly, and take a few long drags silently next to her, occasionally flicking some ash into the tray at his left.

She still hadn’t been able to bring herself to look at him. There was good reason to worry what might happen...what she might do, what she might say, what she might agree to. There was also a part of her, a very deep, primal part of her, that just might grab his hand and pull him into some dark room or corner.

God, when was the last time she’d felt this way? Ready to just throw caution to the wind and just...let herself feel whatever it was that she was feeling. 

It was all Jax’s fault anyway, Allie reasoned as she flipped through the stack of papers. He made her feel out of control and completely in control at the same time - how was that even humanly possible? Standing at the edge of that cliff had never been more fun or made her feel more alive.

And then, as she sucked in a harsh breath, she finally let her head turn to really take a good look at him. He was still facing the bar, with his eyes lingering on the ashtray in front of him as he took a long pull from the cigarette in between his lips. As if he could feel her eyes on him, his head shifted so he could level those blue eyes right on her. His eyes softened the second their gazes met, and she had to swallow back the way her heart squeezed in her chest. Suddenly, it felt really warm in here too. Did they turn the heat up or something in here? Jax shifted in his barstool again so he could lean in and her heart just might’ve skipped all the way across her chest.

“So, before that dickhead showed up,” he paused there, taking a moment to watch the way her lips curved into a smile. “We were talking about you takin’ a break sometime.”

Her chest was rising and falling a little too rapidly for her liking, and if he noticed the way her cheeks burned, then that only fueled the sexy smirk twisting his lips.

“We were.”

“That’s right. We were,” he grinned. “So what would you think about takin’ that break, and doin’ something with me?”

Allie bit down on her bottom lip to hide her smile. It was very possible that, if she didn’t check herself, she just might tip her head back and scream. That, and her heart might combust before they had a chance to get through this conversation.

“Are you…” she narrowed her eyes playfully at him. “Asking me out in a  _ strip club _ ?”

His eyebrows knitted together in his forehead as his eyes drifted around the room in thought, as if he was just now realizing that maybe, just  _ maybe _ , this wasn’t the greatest setting for what he was doing. At least, not with her. It didn’t really make much of a difference to her though - it was just fun to ruffle his feathers for once.

“Yes…” he finally allowed, his lips curving into a grin that was both hopeful and cocky all at the same time. “Is that bad?”

“Which part?”

Jax huffed out a laugh, turning his gaze away from her just long enough to flick some ash from his cigarette. “The strip club part.”

“I think I can live with it.”

Now, the grin on his face was a completely cocksure one. “Good. How ‘bout tonight?”

“Tonight?” she laughed, biting back the way her heart leapt around and karate-chopped its way around her chest.

“Why not?”

“Well,” she gestured to her laptop and the papers strewn out in front of her. “I’d like to say I’ll be able to pull away from all this at a reasonable time tonight, but I don’t think I can make that commitment.”

He nodded easily, and he didn’t seem deterred at all. Not that she meant to deter him. It really was going to be a late night for her tonight.

“Fair enough,” Jax shrugged, that smile still playing on his lips as he leaned in a little more so that his shoulder brushed against hers. “How ‘bout tomorrow night?”

She didn’t even stop to think about it. “Tomorrow night works.”

“Okay,” he grinned, shifting his shoulder again as his arm reached out to drape around her shoulders again to pull her in a little closer. “Tomorrow night then.”

“What are we going to be doing tomorrow night?”

Jax’s lips parted to respond, but closed just as quickly around his cigarette again. Clearly, he hadn’t gotten quite that far in his planning. But, she figured he’d gotten this far, he could get himself the rest of the way. If he needed a few moments to come up with something, then she could put those interviews off for a little bit longer.

And he completely surprised her by offering, “Dinner? That’s somethin’ people do, right? It’s been awhile, so you can tell me if that’s completely stupid and I’ll come up with somethin’ better.”

“Dinner is good,” Allie laughed. Actually, dinner sounded kind of perfect. Simple, but perfect. “Where are we going?”

“Anywhere you want,” he smiled.

Even as her cheeks flushed and her heart flip-flopped in her chest, she knew this was the part where she should probably step up. If left to his own devices, they might end up at the dive bar down the street from the clubhouse. And that gave her an idea.

“There’s this little hole in the wall place about two blocks away from my house,” Allie suggested with a grin. Two blocks away also meant it was completely within walking distance from her house, and that way, she could avoid getting on the back of his bike for as long as humanly possible. “They have the best street tacos you’ll ever have in your life, but they don’t deliver, so I haven’t eaten there in forever.”

“Alright, sounds like a plan to me. You really like Mexican food, huh?”

“Sure. It’s my favorite - they also make their own tequila there apparently and add their own flavors to it. According to Dan, it’s pretty amazing, if you’re into that sort of thing.”

He grinned knowingly, leaning closer so he could murmur in her ear, “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“How about eight, just in case all of this,” she gestured again to her laptop and paperwork, “causes any unforeseen problems.”

“Eight it is,” he nodded, his blue eyes glinting back at her.

Maybe that was the thing, she realized as she shut her laptop and packed up the tiny mountain of paperwork to shove into her bag...that almost giddy feeling like she wanted to jump up and down and scream...that hadn’t gone away. There was a small part of her, deep down, that knew she should be more cautious. Knew she shouldn’t necessarily just let herself fall into this. Knew how effortlessly and completely he could crush her without a thought. Knew that, given their professional relationship, this was probably a really, really stupid idea and could easily blow up in their faces. All that risk was still there, but there would be no reward if she was too scared to at least try to reach for it.

She was happy. Being around Jax...that made her happy. Maybe it was better to actually live her life instead of spending all her time questioning it. To just let go for once, instead of hanging on for dear life. To stop holding back and letting her life pass her by. 

And that was it. It  _ was  _ effortless - being with Jax. Somewhere along the way, something had shifted between them. Some unspoken pattern that had abruptly changed course. She could sit here and try to untangle it, wringing her hands about how badly she could get hurt, or she could just fling herself over the edge and enjoy the adrenaline rush for as long as it lasted. Because it felt good. And she hadn’t realized how long it had been since she’d felt that way until it hit her over the head.

“I should get started on those interviews,” Allie told him with a small smile as she slid off the barstool, putting a hand on his shoulder until both feet were on the ground again.

“Alright,” he murmured. “I’ll just be right here, I guess.”

“Okay,” she laughed, realizing that her hand was still lingering on his shoulder. “I’ll try not to take too long, but that really all depends on how much I can get them to tell me.”

His lips twisted into a smirk. “Knock ‘em dead.”

Allie found herself biting back yet another smile as her hand slipped off his shoulder and she headed toward the dancers’ dressing room.

* * *

Allie hurried out of the dressing room, shoving some of her papers into her bag as calmly as she possibly could. Considering her heart was currently drowning in her stomach and she felt like making a run for the nearest bathroom to throw up in, that was easier said than done. While she’d anticipated some of the answers she’d just gotten, she hadn’t been fully prepared for the details.

Her hands were shaking a little as she tucked some stray hair behind her ear in an attempt to get a handle on herself. And when she closed her eyes, she saw a flash of a blue bedspread, a matching pillow...then she pushed that away, dismissed the tears stinging her eyes, the way her whole body felt like it had been set on fire.

As the bar came into view, she felt herself relax at the sight of the back of that familiar blonde hair and the Reaper cut on his back. Allie sucked in a harsh breath, steeling herself for this next part, the part where she had to tell him everything she’d learned and try to do it in a way that didn’t leave her shattered into pieces at his feet.

And then, as her hurried steps carried her closer to the bar, it was clear Jax had some company by the bar. One of the dancers, a pretty redhead with mile-long legs, that she’d literally just spoken to about a half hour ago, cozied up next to him and dangled an arm around his neck as she leaned in to murmur something into his ear.

Even though she could only see the back of Jax’s head, she could tell he was listening by the way his head tilted just a touch closer to hear her over the Pussycat Dolls song blaring in the background. 

For one, fleeting moment, Allie felt a wave of heat rush down her body. She’d listened to this girl’s story, heard the details, written them down, given this girl her business card in case she ever needed it,  _ felt  _ her story down to her bones, and she couldn’t help but feel a tinge of feminine betrayal that, after all that, this girl now had an arm wrapped around Jax’s neck.

Then, a moment later, Jax shook his head at her. He turned to flash her a good-natured grin even as she dipped her head lower one more time to whisper in his ear. He listened, but shook his head again before she even finished murmuring in his ear. When the girl said something else, his head tilted closer to her, as if he was making sure he’d heard her correctly, and as Allie moved closer, she could see Jax’s forehead was creased into a tight line as he listened. His head shifted to where Dominic was standing by that dark hallway in the club. Then, Jax shifted on the barstool so he could dig his wallet out of his pocket. He flipped a few bills from it and promptly handed them to the redhead before murmuring something in her ear. She just shrugged, took the bills from him, and started to walk away. 

“Oh no, Teller,” Allie heard Dominic call out as he started closing the distance between himself and the bar. He snatched the cash Jax had just given the girl out of her hands, and tossed it onto the countertop. “Your money’s no good here.”

“It’s not a problem,” Jax responded tightly. He slid off his barstool now, scooped up the bills on the bar and handed them back to the redhead. “I want her to have it.”

Dominic stared at the cash in the girl’s hand for a moment, as if deciding just how far he wanted to push this, and luckily for everyone, he shrugged and batted out a hand in the air. “Alright. Suit yourself. In the future, though, don’t bother bringin’ any money with you, alright?”

“Alright,” Jax nodded as he shoved his hands in his front pockets.

By now, he seemed to sense that Allie was behind him. He turned his head to face her, a slow grin sliding up the side of his face that, the moment he got a good look at her, slipped just a little. Allie swallowed hard, desperate to just get out of here and just as desperate to keep her emotions in check. She was supposed to be professional here. Supposed to be the one keeping order and be the paradigm of calm and composed, even if just for a little while, and even in this setting.

But it was really hard right now. It was really fucking hard.

“All set to go?” Jax murmured to her, careful to keep his hands firmly in his pockets.

She let herself glance at him briefly. “Yeah. We should get going.”

Then she turned back to the redhead, pressing a sympathetic smile to her face, “Thank you for speaking with me before. I really appreciate it.”

The girl smiled back at her with a light wave. “No problem. Happy to help.”

That was about the most she could take. She didn’t think she’d be able to hold this pained, friendly smile on her face for much longer and after saying their goodbyes, she immediately turned on her heel to head for the exit. Jax fell into step next to her and pushed the door open for her in silence before pressing his hand into the small of her back to lead her out into the parking lot.

They stayed that way, walking side by side, so close that she could feel Jax’s right hip brush against her, with Jax’s hand firmly pressed into her back, until they stopped in front of her car. He was waiting for her to explain, that much she could tell, when his hand dropped away from her back and slipped into his front pocket.

Allie took a deep breath and finally met him in the eye. “It’s bad, Jax.”

He nodded tightly, even though she could see his chest rising and falling a little bit faster now, and his blue eyes remained fixed on her, with his forehead knitted into a tense line.

“That girl in there? The one you gave some money to?” she paused long enough for him to nod. “She can’t be older than 17 - she  _ told  _ me she was 20, but there’s no way. There were two other girls back there that looked like they were 15. Maybe they weren’t, maybe they just looked young - I know I looked like I was 12 until after I graduated from college, but that doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things. Him hiring underage girls is the least of our problems.”

Jax nodded again, and he chewed on his bottom lip as she pushed on.

“He’s basically running a backroom prostitution ring, Jax.”

Now, he rubbed a thumb across his bottom lip as he pushed out a heavy sigh and then scrubbed a hand over his eyes.

“It took me a little while to get one of the girls to tell me what was really going on, and then once one of them spilled, all I had to do was tell them I already knew and they just...I’d expected it to be bad, Jax, but I wasn’t expecting…” she sucked in a harsh breath, pushing back the tears that burned her throat and shifting on her heels to give herself a little bit of space between them. “They have no protection. No one even waiting by the door in case things go bad. Dominic takes more than 50% of whatever they make in those rooms to encourage them to _up-sell_ so everyone gets more money. It sounds like he lets the girls keep all the tips they make out on the floor and on the stage and he makes most of his money from what goes on in those back rooms. It’s just...pretty much anything goes back there. One girl was telling me a girl ran out of one of those rooms with blood running down her nose, didn’t get paid, so Dominic fired her. Another girl told me Dominic pushed her into a room without telling her what was going on, some guy was already in there waiting for her and he held her down and…” Allie trailed off, unable to stop her voice from trembling or the tears that stung her eyes to slip down her face. She brushed a tear out of her eye, jumping a little bit when Jax’s hands closed down on top of her shoulders.

“Hey,” he told her gently, crouching down just enough to look at her face. “You okay?”

Allie swallowed hard, even as he reached up to wipe a tear from her cheek with his thumb.

“No,” she told him honestly. “I’m not. That was just...it was really hard to sit there and listen to all those stories, one after the other…”

She couldn’t even revel in the fact that he had both hands around her face now, gently tipping her head back to get her to look at him. She didn’t want to look him in the eye - she was terrified of what he might see. Terrified he would take one look, and see everything she’d worked so hard to set aside and leave behind. 

Jax nodded to her sadly before slipping his hands around her shoulders to pull her tightly against his chest. It was easy to just let her cheek fall into the leather on his chest, to close her eyes at how soft it felt against her skin, how safe she felt with his strong warmth wrapped around her. 

He gently pulled away, keeping his hands on her shoulders as his lips curved into a sad smile. 

“The club has to pull out of this,” Allie told him firmly. “This is just...it’s the opposite of everything you’re trying to do. You can’t move forward with him.”

Jax ran a hand over his face and his eyes drifted out onto the street. A myriad of emotions flickered across his handsome face all at once - disappointment, frustration, a little bit of relief, worry. It was all there. When his gaze found her again, there was some resignation there now that hadn’t been there before.

“I gotta take this to the table.”

“I understand,” she nodded. “I need a few days to clean up my notes and try to make sense of everything those girls told me a little more. If I sent Bobby my notes now, I don’t think he’d have any idea what I was talking about. I’ll put it all in a format that’s easier to understand and so you can see everything all laid out and send it to Bobby as soon as it’s ready.”

“Alright,” his head dipped down into a tight nod. “That makes sense.”

Then he seemed to set all that aside for now as his hands closed around her cheeks again.

“You gonna be okay?”

She had to smile at the sound of his voice, that deep rumble in his chest, the husky timbre of it that had her heart tightening in her chest. And so, she answered him as honestly as she could.

“I think I will be.”

“Okay,” he grinned down at her, his lips spreading apart in that familiar, heart-stopping smirk. “So I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Heat flooded her chest, tightening and filling her up. “Yeah. Eight o’clock. I’ll be ready.”

“You better be,” he smirked.

She could only laugh as she opened her driver’s side and slid into the seat. He shut the door for her, shooting her a bright wave before he backpedaled away from her car to head toward where his bike was parked a few spots away. As she glanced at her phone for the first time in a few hours, there were already five unread text messages just sitting there, waiting to be dealt with. One quick look told her all five were from her mom.

And why not, right? Was it a full moon or something?

She couldn’t even completely wrap her head around everything that had happened today. 

She had a date with Jax Teller. 

A real, true, going-out-to-dinner date. Whatever that meant remained to be seen. All she knew was that her heart might not make it through...and for the first time in her life, she might actually be okay with that. As completely crazy and reckless as that was. How was she supposed to say no to him anyway? But then again, her mind drifted back to the conversation they’d had on that picnic table a few nights ago. He’d been, at least indirectly, telling her he didn’t want to just mess around anymore, right? That the hook-ups had gotten old and now he wanted something else? Something more?

Allie really didn’t think she was reading too much into that, not with the way that whole day had played out. The way he’d followed her around. The way he’d hung on every word she said and every move she made. The way he’d put his arm around her shoulders during the fireworks and tucked her in close. If he wanted a quick and easy hook-up with her, that wasn’t the way to go about it. And if what he’d wanted that night was a quick and easy hook-up, he could’ve found it easily elsewhere - not even just at the clubhouse, too. All he would’ve had to do was smile at any of the other girls within his vicinity, and they would’ve followed him anywhere. He’d basically told her as much himself.

And yet.

And yet,  _ he’d _ been the one following  _ her _ anywhere that night.

Maybe he did go back to the clubhouse that night and find a quick and easy hook-up, but something was telling her he didn’t. She got the feeling Jax Teller didn’t play games, at least, not like this. He’d never needed to before. Why would he start now?

It was possible she  _ was  _ reading too much into his dinner suggestion, but that made it feel like something real, something that wasn’t just about getting her clothes off as easily and quickly as he could. He hadn’t even kissed her - and there’d been ample opportunity at the fireworks and just about any moment alone they’d had in the last few hours.

She wasn’t quite ready to sift through everything else yet. The notes sitting on her laptop weren’t going to untangle themselves. It was times like these that she wished she actually did drink - she might need a whole bottle of wine to get through those notes in one piece.

She was still reeling from the whiplash as she pulled out of the parking lot, heading in one direction, while Jax headed in the other on his bike. 

How was it possible to be so swept off her feet one moment, and then be so absolutely triggered the next? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - Thank you for all the comments and kudos!
> 
> Were you expecting him to ask her out? Lol! That just sort of low-key happened! After 17 chapters, the timing just felt right, especially after the way things progressed for them at the carnival in the last chapter. This was just a natural next step, and their first date (or second if we're counting the carnival) is definitely one of my favorite upcoming chapters (that's ch. 19). I'm currently finishing chapter 29, so I suppose I could be persuaded to post ch. 18 on Sunday ;) Anyway, I can't wait to hear your thoughts on this chapter...there were some other pretty important things that happened too, in terms of moving the plot along, and this King situation is going to go from bad to worse. I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts and predictions!


	18. Chapter Eighteen

By nearly 8:00 that night, Allie finally closed the garage door behind her and kicked off her high heels. She closed her eyes at the sweet relief in her aching toes, bending down to rub some of the tension out of them as she tossed her purse and her keys onto the bench in the hallway. After spending the last four hours pouring over her notes from all those interviews with the dancers at Dominic King’s club, she needed some food. And a shower. And a break.

It was all just...a little more than she’d been prepared to handle today.

Her brain was just ready to turn off, and her emotions were drained dry.

“Hello?” Dan’s voice called out to her from the living room. “God, you’re _finally_ home. I thought you would never get out of the office today.”

“You and me both, my friend,” Allie called back to him.

When she made her way down the hallway and into the kitchen, sweeping her hair into a low messy bun at her neck, Dan was already in the kitchen, setting a to-go container out on the counter for her.

“Oh, is that dinner?” she sighed with relief. “Thank God. I love you.”

“You know I love you too,” Dan grinned broadly, his eyes flashing as they trailed up and down the length of her. “I must say, Alexandra, you look particularly gorgeous today. Look at you,” he gestured to her leather skirt and then tapped her cheek with his hand, “ _you_ are glowing. You’re glowing!”

“That’s a bit much, Daniel,” she laughed and scooped up some Chinese noodles into her mouth with a pair of chopsticks. “I’ve had a day,” she told him in between bites. “And I’m glad it’s over.”

Dan’s mouth curved into a knowing grin up the side of his face and he nodded placatingly, his eyes flashing again. “Uh huh, no, I can see _that_. But I feel like there’s something else. Something happened today, didn’t it? You’re not always so...flushed and luminous when you come home from the office.”

“Well, considering I just spent the better part of my day interviewing strippers and then sifting through said interview notes, I’m not sure if I should take that as a compliment or…”

“Ah,” Dan nodded, tapping two fingers to his chin in thought. “No, I can see how that might set one off-kilter for a bit. _But_. That doesn’t explain this,” he swept a hand around her face. “So, care to explain?”

Her lips parted but then she shoved some more noodles into her mouth. There. That would show him.

Dan, unfortunately, was not deterred. In fact, that only seemed to spur him on that there really was something different about today that, in turn, made _her_ different. He wasn’t going to leave her alone until he found out and that would really ruin her dinner and whatever else was left of this night. He knew her far too well to leave well enough alone.

“Alright, fine,” Allie allowed. “Something _did_ happen today. But if I tell you, you have to promise you won’t freak out.”

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she knew they were wrong. _Of course_ he was going to freak out.

“Yeah. Sure. Whatever,” he waved a hand around in the air as if that would somehow prove it.

Alright. Here it goes. Allie took a deep breath and let it spill: “I may or may not have been asked out. On a _date_.”

Dan hesitated for a moment, and his dark eyes narrowed just a touch, like he wasn’t quite sure if she was messing with him or actually telling the truth. When her eyebrows lifted in challenge, his eyes flashed, and then his face broke apart into a gleefully sly smile.

“I see…” he bit down on his bottom lip, but that smile still pushed through. “And who, may I ask, is your lovely gentleman caller? Wait! Don’t tell me. Could it be, perhaps,” Dan tapped his chin in thought, “a very attractive, very blonde, very _sexy_ president of a motorcycle club?”

Allie shot him a knowing side-eye as she shoveled another helping of Chinese noodles into her mouth with her chopsticks.

“Oh my God,” Dan exhaled. “You are in so much trouble. Where is he taking you? When are you going and will you need me to vacate the premises when you return?”

“Oh boy,” Allie sighed, shaking her head. “We’re going to that little Mexican place that’s two blocks away. He’s coming over tomorrow and I figured we’d walk over there.”

“Sure, that’ll be cute. He’ll like the tequila there, I bet.”

“Yeah, that’s what I told him. So, I -”

Dan immediately sliced a hand through the air to silence her. “Wait a minute. What do you mean you’ll _walk_ over there? He’s showing up on his motorcycle, I would assume. Why on earth would you _walk_?”

“Well,” Allie shrugged. “Maybe I don’t want to take his motorcycle. Maybe I would prefer to walk.”

“Why? The man rides a motorcycle. You are going to be going out on a date tomorrow with an unimaginably sexy motorcycle man. You get on the bike, Allie. Good God. You get on the _bike_.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

Dan stared at her like she’d just sprouted a second head. “Were you _dropped_ on your head as an infant or something?”

“You’ve met my parents,” Allie shrugged easily. “It’s possible.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll give you that,” he allowed, but then he pinned her with dark narrowed eyes. “ _But_ you need to explain to me why you’re acting like getting on the back of that biker Adonis’s motorcycle is beneath you, and you need to explain now.”

Allie pushed out a deep sigh. He also wasn’t going to _this_ go, and she’d never been able to keep most things from him anyway, try as she might. 

“I don’t know. It just feels too... _intimate_? Too...serious? That’s something they do with old ladies, for the most part, and that’s just...that’s more than what I’m prepared for right now.”

Dan narrowed his eyes at her. “Remind me what the old lady thing is again.”

She sighed again and squeezed her eyes shut. Why couldn’t she just finish her Chinese noodles in peace?

“Old ladies are serious,” she explained quietly. “It’s more serious and committed than a girlfriend. It’s sort of like they’re staking their claim on a woman, I guess. Like a wife, but they don’t always get married. The women get tattoos like it’s some kind of brand and...it’s a whole barbaric, caveman thing.”

“Ah,” Dan smiled broadly. “Like a _wife_ , huh? Now I understand why you’re putting your little foot down about it. You know, you never answered my question.”

“And what question was that?”

Dan waggled his dark eyebrows at her. “The one where I asked if you need me to vacate the premises when you get home from your little date-y with the big, bad, _sexy_ biker man.”

“No, that will not be required,” she replied simply. 

She’d made up her mind about that right around the time she got back to her office today. The last thing she wanted to do was be _that girl_ . Especially with him. At least not right away - and maybe, there was a part of her that wanted to see what his motivations really were. Was this date just pretty window-dressing for what he really wanted? Was it just him going through the motions of what he thought she would... _require_ in order to take off her clothes for him? Or was this about more than getting naked with her? There was only one way to find out, and that was to hold out as long as she possibly could.

With Jax Teller, though, that seemed a little bit like staring up the side of Mount Everest and expecting to survive on the first try. 

“Ugh,” Dan rolled his eyes and tossed a fortune cookie at her face. “This is all _so_ upsetting to me right now. I don’t even know where to begin with you.”

“Maybe,” Allie allowed. “I’ve decided that I don’t want to do that on the first date. Is that _okay_ with you?”

“Do what? Climb him like a tree? Ride him like a pony? I don’t know, Alexandra, that seems like a pretty good idea to me. And, let’s be completely honest here,” he swept a hand in front of her face to emphasize his point. “Whatever’s happening tomorrow night _isn’t_ your first date. It’s your second. And before you even try to argue with me, I _saw_ the way that man was looking at you at that fundraiser and during that carnival. I saw the way _you_ were looking at him too. You were having the time of your life with him and you know it. Don’t even try to deny it because I’ll never believe you. If that’s not a date, then I don’t know what is.”

Maybe he had a point. Maybe she wanted him to shut up about it now.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Can I please finish my dinner?”

Dan’s mouth curled knowingly and he poked her in the chest with his finger. “You _like_ him. You really, _really_ like him.”

She was very close to stomping her little foot in protest if he didn’t leave her alone and let her eat, but then he held up his hands and lifted his eyes to the ceiling in annoyance.

“Okay, fine,” Dan started again. “But -”

The front door bell rang just then, cutting through whatever nonsense Dan was about to say. Dan just batted both hands at her, grumbling about hot bikers and stupid tiny women, as he headed toward the door to answer it. Her phone started to buzz with a notification just as he walked away, and Allie frowned at it, sweeping it up with one hand, her chopsticks full of Chinese noodles still in the other.

Allie’s heart dropped into her stomach when she saw the notification of just who was standing outside her door, hurrying to side-step around her island to see Dan at the front door with his hand on the handle. “Hey, Dan, don’t -”

It was too late. Dan swung the door open before she could stop him to reveal her mom standing on the front porch. Allie’s heart stuttered in her chest, and her eyes strained through the screen door and the darkness permeating the front yard to see that familiar sedan parked by the curb.

Almost instantaneously, she swiped through her phone, searching through her contacts, and frowning when she saw Opie was already calling her.

“Hey, Ope -”

“Just stay in the house, Allie,” Opie practically barked through the phone. “We’re on our way, okay? Just stay inside. Is your roommate home?”

“Okay, Ope,” she whispered. “Dan’s here. I’ll stay in the house.”

She hung up, knowing it was better to just get off the phone with him so he - and who she knew was coming with him - could get here that much faster. She gripped her phone for dear life as she moved closer to where Dan stood guard in front of the door, blocking the entrance with his body.

“Let me in, Dan,” her mom told him, her face twisting with an ugly mix of anger and betrayal.

“No fucking way, Anna,” he sneered back. “Step back and get the hell off this property. She’s made herself perfectly clear and _you_ need to start respecting that.”

Now realizing Dan was a lost cause, Anna shifted her focus beyond him, turning on the waterworks and pitiful expression that always twisted the knife in Allie’s heart.

“Please, honey,” she pleaded. “I just need a little help. Just a little. And then I’ll leave and I won’t come back. I promise.”

“Mom, I -”

“Allie, I know I haven’t been the best mother. I know I’ve hurt you. I’ve failed you. I _know_ ,” Anna’s voice broke and she tore her eyes away, bringing a trembling hand up to her mouth.

But Allie knew all her mother’s tricks. These were words Anna had said before. Games Anna had played before. Guilt Anna had used before. And while her heart broke for this shell of a woman in front of her, Allie knew she couldn’t continue to bend just because the woman had given birth to her. She’d been so strong up until now and she had to stay firm and see it through. Even if it was just until the roar of those motorcycles blasted down the street.

“I just need a little bit to get by. Whatever you can spare - I know you have some cash lying around and I just need a little.”

“Anna,” Dan growled. “You need to turn your ass around and get the hell off this property.”

“This doesn’t have anything to do with you,” her mom shot back, her eyes glinting into dark slits. “I’m speaking with my daughter.”

Allie moved a little closer, spurred on by the motorcycles in the distance, and stood behind Dan’s shoulder. “Mom, you should leave. You can’t just show up here like this.”

“Now, honey, I understand that you’re upset. I understand that I haven’t been as grateful as I could’ve been in the past, and I’m so sorry about that. You know I love you, sweetie. You know how much I love you, and I just need a little help.”

“The only help I can give you is for rehab, Mom. If you’re open to talking about that, then I’m willing to talk to you, but that’s it.”

Anna let out one mournful sob, desperately running her hands through her hair. She was agitated - whether it was from the sound of the motorcycles in the distance or because she was coming down from something, Allie couldn’t really be sure. It was always hard to tell with Anna. Always difficult to suss out what was true and what was a carefully calibrated fiction.

“I can’t do that again, Allie,” Anna whispered shakily. “It almost killed me the last time. I’m not going back to that place. I think I’d rather die.”

Tears pricked her eyes, but she swallowed them down.

 _No_ , she told herself, _your mother has made you cry for the last time._

“I’m sorry, Mom,” Allie started again as a short line of motorcycles rolled down her street and into her driveway. 

There were just four of them, but she knew well enough by now to recognize each one even in the darkness. Jax and Opie parked in the front, making quick work of unsnapping their helmets, as Bobby and Tig rolled up behind them. And although they swung their legs over the sides of their bikes, almost in practiced unison, they stayed where they were, leaning up against their bikes with their arms folded tightly across their leather-covered chests. Waiting. Ready to move at a moment’s notice, if she needed it.

“Oh, I see,” Anna murmured under her breath. “You hook up with the MC president and now you’re too good to help your mother?”

Dan cocked an eyebrow at Allie even as she stepped around him to push through the screen door. She was sure only Dan had heard that - there was no way Jax or anyone else had heard Anna from the driveway, and now that they were here, Allie felt a renewed confidence in standing in front of her mother on her own two feet, and without a bodyguard in front of her.

“You want to go there, Mom? We can go there,” Allie gestured with her head toward the sedan parked at the curb. So far, the guy behind the wheel still hadn’t moved. “Who _is_ he, Mom? He’s got a car. Why doesn’t he sell that if you guys are so hard up for cash?”

Anna glanced at the sedan behind her, dragging her eyes past the four stoic bikers in the driveway before steeling her gaze back on her daughter.

“I have nothing, Allie,” her mom spat. “Look at what you have! Look at this house you live in! That car you drive! There’s no good reason why you can’t help me, Allie. No good reason at all.”

She fought the urge to let her eyes slide to the bikers in the driveway. If she made eye contact with any of them now, especially the blonde one out in front, she might crumble right where she stood.

“Mom,” Allie swallowed tightly, folding her arms tightly across her chest - more to protect herself than anything. “Don’t do this, okay? It doesn’t have to be this way. Just...I think you need to leave. If you decide you’re ready to try rehab again, let me know. I’ll drive you there myself if that’s what we need to do. But that’s it, Mom. That’s all I can do.”

Anna froze on the porch, her eyes glazing over with a dazed fury. Then, in a rage, she charged forward to kick over the ceramic planter at the edge of the porch with a crash. Allie jumped at the violence, shocked by this new side to her mom she’d never seen before. From the corner of her eye, she could see the four bikers in her driveway beginning to stir, pushing up from their bikes on high alert. And then that guy in the sedan decided to show his scarred face, sliding out of the driver’s side door and slamming the door shut with a loud crack.

Jax and Opie immediately stood up straighter the second the man dared to take a step onto the front lawn. They started moving toward the walkway to her front door- it was a casual pace with their hands in their pockets, but their gazes were firmly, lethally, locked on the intruder on the lawn. And then Anna reached for the lantern by the front door, lifted it high over her head, and smashed it at Allie’s feet.

Everything seemed to escalate all at once.

The man on the lawn started moving closer just as Jax picked up his pace toward the front door. 

“Hey,” the man called out menacingly to Jax. “Don’t you touch her. You hear me? Don’t you fucking touch her.”

Jax raised a gloved finger to Allie, but kept his eyes pinned into the man on the lawn with Opie right on his heels. “Allie, get back in the house.”

Allie didn’t hesitate, scrambling back inside and shutting the screen door as quickly as Dan could get it open and closed behind her.

“I said don’t touch her, man,” the guy yelled at Jax. “Are you fucking deaf?”

Jax stopped in his tracks, shifting on his heel to take an aggressive step onto the lawn. “You wanna say that again, bro?”

Allie could only watch, frozen behind the screen door, as her mom glared at her from the other side.

“I never would’ve pegged you for a biker whore,” Anna whispered with a snarl. “But it looks like you’ve got him trained well. Good for you.”

“Mom,” Allie murmured through the screen door. “Just go before this gets worse. Please. There are four of them and only one of him. Just go. And don’t come back.”

Anna glanced behind the mess she’d made to see Jax and her boyfriend in a stand-off on the front lawn. In that moment, she finally seemed to realize that if she stayed where she was, it wasn’t going to end well for her - or for the man she’d brought with her. She wasn’t going to get what she wanted from Allie, and so Anna shot her one last glare through the screen door before turning on her heel and stalking down the lawn. When Anna reached her boyfriend, she grabbed his tattooed arm and pulled him back to the car.

Without another word, they got back inside the car, the man revved the engine in a show of masculine aggression, and then they sped off down the street.

Jax didn’t hesitate, moving down the front lawn and onto the sidewalk to make sure they could see him standing there, watching them leave, and letting them know he’d be waiting if they were stupid enough to come back. Once the car was out of sight, Jax finally shifted to glance over his shoulder. His icy blue eyes softened the moment he found her standing behind her screen door, and his lips curled into a warm, albeit brief, smile.

He pushed his hands into his front pockets, rocking back on his heels as his gaze drifted back to the dark empty street.

By now, Opie was sidestepping around the mess on the front porch and pushing through the screen door. He pulled her into a bear hug before she even had a chance to catch her breath, holding her tightly against his chest with a hand in her hair.

“You alright, Allie?” Opie murmured.

She nodded into his chest and squeezed her eyes shut, letting herself get swept away in the comfort he was offering her, even if she found herself fleetingly wishing there were a different pair of arms wrapped around her right now. 

That was okay. She understood the need to keep their distance, and she didn’t necessarily want him hugging her in front of Opie anyway. That wasn’t a bridge she was ready to cross, and given the way he lingered on the lawn, affording her a wide berth, he didn’t seem ready to cross it either.

Still, after a few moments, Jax stepped up on her front porch and let himself inside her house. That was right around the time Opie released her so he could clap Dan on the shoulder and thank him for having her back.

Now that this was officially the second time Jax stood inside her house, she once again found herself flailing aimlessly into the abyss. She didn’t know what she was supposed to do. Things were different between them now. There was some kind of unspoken... _thing_. Whatever it was, it was there. She wanted to run into his arms but knew she couldn’t - it was a cruel kind of torture. The one thing that would make all this better right now was the one thing she couldn’t have.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Bobby bend down to the mess on her front porch and start scooping up some of the broken pieces. Grateful for the distraction, she brushed past Jax to push through the screen door he’d just come through and crouched down by Bobby.

“You don’t have to do that, Bobby,” she told him gently. “I can -”

Bobby just shot her a sympathetic smile and put a hand on her shoulder. “No worries, sweetheart. Happy to help. You got a broom or somethin’ like that in your garage I can borrow though?”

She laughed in spite of everything, desperate for some normalcy, and nodded. “Alright, let me just…”

Allie stepped around him to head toward the garage, where she punched in the code to open it for him. Tig appeared at her shoulder, and he nodded with a sad smile on his normally slightly crazed face, and that she just made her swallow back the wave of tears that threatened to bubble up to the surface. If _he_ was somber and apologetic, then this all probably looked just as bad to them as it did from behind her screen door. Allie ducked underneath the garage door as it opened, but then she felt another hand on her shoulder.

“I’m good, Allie,” Tig told her quietly. “I know my way around a garage and I can find whatever we need to clean up. Why don’t you head back inside and talk to Jax and Ope?”

She didn’t have the energy to protest. He was right anyway.

So, because she was already halfway there, she passed through the garage to head through the door inside. As she made her way down the hallway toward the kitchen, hushed murmurs bounced off the walls. She took a deep breath for strength, and then walked into the kitchen to find Jax, Opie, and Dan huddled around the island.

The second the three men realized she was standing there, they immediately stopped talking, as if they’d been caught doing something they shouldn’t have been. Well, it was obvious they’d been talking about her, talking about what to do about her mom and this guy - if they ever decided to come back.

Allie ventured deeper inside the kitchen until she stood shoulder to shoulder with Dan, with Opie and Jax on the other side. Opie had his elbows resting on the countertop, but Jax stood straight, stiffly folding his tattooed forearms tight across his chest. His blue eyes sliced to her for a moment, softened, and then shifted back to the countertop in front of him, tightening his arms across his chest.

She blew out a sigh and then just jumped right into it. No point in delaying the inevitable.

“I think they followed me from the office,” she told them quietly. “I was home - what, Dan? Not even 15 minutes and then she was at the door?”

Dan nodded tightly next to her before pushing out a heavy sigh.

Opie glanced at Jax then, who met his eyes, nodded tightly, flitted his gaze back to her for just a moment, and then settled his eyes back down on the countertop, his arms still crossed over his chest.

“So, Allie,” Opie started roughly. He ran a hand over his head, pushed off his black beanie, and tossed it onto the counter. “In light of all this tonight, I think it goes without saying that something needs to change. When they come back…” he trailed off, holding up a hand with gentle brown eyes. “And we know they’re gonna come back. At some point, they’ll get desperate. And we need to be prepared for when that happens.”

Allie swallowed back the tears that pricked her eyes, nodding almost immediately. Her eyes flicked worriedly to Jax. He seemed to feel her eyes on him, and his gaze shifted upward again until he found her. His lips curled up briefly, and then he nodded tightly to her, as if to say _don’t fight this. Just let us help you._

She didn’t want to fight it.

“You have any idea where we could track down your mom?” Opie was asking her now. “Any places she stays where they might be holing up for a while?”

And, it seemed, she was also going to be no help to them too.

“I don’t know,” Allie shook her head. “I haven’t asked her about that in a long time because I never wanted to know the answer. She’s had apartments off and on throughout the years, and I think she’s crashed in parks when she had to, but...if this guy has a car, he probably has a place, too, and knowing her, I’m guessing she’s staying with him, wherever that is.”

All three men nodded solemnly, and then Dan’s quiet voice called out: “She used to hang out at that dive bar...what was that place called?”

“The Hairy Dog,” Allie answered flatly.

Something flashed across Jax’s face, and a hard line ticked down his jaw. He nodded tightly, before finally speaking for the first time since she’d been standing there, “That’s a start. We’ll keep an eye on it - see if she makes a stop there anytime soon.”

His voice sounded so foreign in that moment. Harsh and hoarse at the same time, like he couldn’t quite form the words in his throat. Still, the sound was a balm to an open wound, and she hadn’t realized how badly she’d needed to hear it until he spoke.

“So, here’s what’s gonna happen,” Jax told her, his arms still crossed over his chest. “We’re gonna keep someone at the studio for you. We’re doing it already anyway for extra security, but you need to have someone there by your office in case they decide to show up and get through security somehow. I know that’s probably not gonna happen, but seeing as how Caruso’s two idiots found a way through, that’s not a risk I’m willin’ to take. So, we’ll have someone in the halls and someone outside your office. We can have someone tail you when you’re going to and from the office or have someone drive you - your call, but we gotta keep someone with you, alright?”

He paused there, leveling a hard stare her way just to show her how serious this was. None of this was up for discussion - it had already been decided long before she walked into the kitchen. And at this point, she was glad she didn’t have to think about it.

“Okay,” she nodded.

Jax’s eyes softened for a moment as the corner of his mouth lifted at her. Then he got back to business. “We’d really like to keep someone in the house at all times, just in case, but I also understand that you might not particularly be happy about club members passin’ out on your couch every night, especially if they’re just greasy prospects. But, that being said, someone needs to be close. They won’t be sittin’ in your driveway all the time - that might draw some attention from your neighbors that we don’t want. They’ll be movin’ around, sometimes in your driveway, maybe on the curb, or down the street, but they’ll be there.”

She didn’t hesitate. “Okay.”

It was overkill, sure. But she understood it was a necessity as well. There was a question on the tip of her tongue, but she didn’t know if she’d have the courage to ask. Allie had learned a long time ago never to ask questions she didn’t want to know the answer to.

“I doubt they’re gonna be stupid enough to come back tonight,” Jax pushed on. “But we’ve got a prospect on the way for graveyard duty. He’ll do some patrol, keep his distance, and then he’ll follow you into the office tomorrow - or drive you, whatever you decide to do.”

There was a tiny, tiny part of her that felt a tinge of disappointment that Jax clearly wouldn’t be sticking around tonight. But with Opie, Bobby and Tig here, what excuses could he really make that wouldn’t set their suspicions flaring? That would have Opie’s spidey-senses tingling for sure.

“Okay,” she repeated with another nod. What else could she say?

“Alright,” Jax nodded tightly. Then he glanced at Opie, they exchanged a look between them, and Opie pushed his elbows off the countertop.

“The prospect should be here any minute,” Opie told her, pressing a pained smile on his face as he scooped his beanie off the counter and pushed it back on his head. He stepped around the island to pull Allie against his chest one more time and he pressed his lips into her temple. “Everything’s gonna be okay,” Opie murmured into her hair. “We’re not gonna let anything happen to you.”

“I know, Ope,” she told him, even though her eyes drifted over to the blonde biker who was standing stiffly off to the side. “I know.”

* * *

Jax waited long enough to see Opie leave the clubhouse to head home to Lyla, and then he hopped back on his bike. Luckily enough, her house wasn’t that far from the clubhouse, and he only had to speed through about 10 miles or so before he was pulling up to the driveway, unsnapping his helmet, and swinging his leg over the side of his bike.

He knew he needed to give himself a moment, even if just to get a handle on everything that had happened here an hour ago. That was some heavy, heavy shit, and it’d been weighing on his mind ever since they’d rolled out of here after the dust settled. He’d had plenty of confrontations with Wendy like that, that was for sure, but he hadn’t expected Allie’s mom to get so vicious and so violent so goddamn quickly. So, he dug into the front pocket of his cut and lit up a cigarette as he closed the distance between himself and the truck parked discreetly on the curb. He rapped his knuckles on the driver side window, grinning at the prospect inside as he rolled down the window.

“‘Sup, prospect,” Jax greeted him good-naturedly, leaning an arm over the edge of the window as he spoke.

“Hey, prez,” the prospect nodded to him with a nervous smile on his face.

“How’s it goin’ so far?”

“Good, good,” the prospect responded a little anxiously, clenching his knuckles around the steering wheel. “I’m doin’ what you said - keepin’ an eye on everything, makin’ sure everything’s okay.”

Jax nodded to him with an easy smile as he brought his cigarette to his lips again. “Good to hear. So, listen, you’re probably gonna be on this graveyard shift for a few weeks or so. You good with that?”

The prospect nodded immediately and with an over-eagerness that made Jax grin. “‘Course, prez. I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”

“Good,” Jax smirked and he flicked some ash from his cigarette, glancing at the house over his shoulder before he spoke again. “So, here’s what’s gonna happen. I’m gonna go inside the house for a little while,” he jerked a thumb at the house from over his shoulder, smiling a little when the prospect’s eyes widened, “and then I’m gonna leave. And you’re not gonna say a word to anyone, a’ight?”

The prospect blinked back at him.

“And,” Jax added with a lethal grin. “That’s gonna be happening... _often_. You feel me?”

He waited long enough to see the prospect gulp and nod like his life depended on it. Right about now, it kinda did.

“Now, what I’m doin’ in there is none of your business, right?”

“Right, prez,” the prospect nodded instantly. “Absolutely. None of my business.”

“Since it’s none of your business, you’re gonna keep it to yourself. And if you happen to see the lady who lives in this house, you’re not gonna ask her any questions and make her feel uncomfortable, right?”

“Right.”

Jax reached inside the truck and clapped the prospect on the shoulder, making sure to give his shoulder a tight squeeze. “Good.”

Then he tossed his cigarette onto the street and shot the prospect sweating in the truck a two-finger salute before turning on his heel to head up the walkway to Allie’s front porch. He sauntered onto the porch, and just as he hit the doorbell, the front door flung open.

Dan stood on the other side of the screen door with a sly grin on his face. “Well, hello. Fancy seeing you here.”

“Hey,” Jax huffed out a laugh, rocking back on his heels a little. “Is it a’ight if I come in? Or are you gonna stand guard in front of the door all night?”

Dan’s eyes flashed and that grin on his face twisted playfully to one side. “Sure, it’s _a’ight_ if you come in. I would love it if you _came in_ actually.”

He rocked back on his heels again and shoved his hands in his pockets as his mind worked through all that, a grin ticking across his jaw. Then he tipped his chin to Dan with a laugh as he stepped inside the house and shut the door behind him.

“Knock it off, Dan,” Allie called out from behind his shoulder, smacking him a little upside the head as she appeared in the entryway.

Jax had to suck in a breath at the sight of her. She’d changed out of that leather skirt since the last time he’d seen her, and while, part of him mourned the loss of that tight skirt, as his eyes drifted up and down the length of her - this was okay too. Tight grey leggings and a white tank top that dipped just low enough to flash a little cleavage worked. It was too bad she’d covered up her shoulders with a long, loose cardigan, but that was okay too.

He’d just wanted to see her. He hadn’t come back to pant over her, even though it was hard as fuck not to. All he’d wanted to do was make sure she was okay. Anything else was an added bonus.

And judging by the way her lips curved into a soft smile, she’d wanted to see him too.

“You know,” Dan was saying now as he backpedalled toward the stairs. “I’m just gonna...I think I’ll head up to my room and turn my TV up _real_ loud. Just so everyone knows. Okay, bye.”

Allie’s head turned to watch Dan scurry up the stairs, and was still shaking her head when she turned back to face him. Jax’s eyes flicked up the stairs just long enough to see that Dan had disappeared, and then he moved.

His arms wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her in tight. She tensed in his arms for a moment, almost as if the sudden movement surprised her, but then she relaxed against his chest just as quickly.

“You okay?” he murmured into her hair. Just having her in his arms, that was enough. She was here, she wasn’t crying...that was enough. He leaned in, letting himself inhale, and breathed in the sweet scent of musk and spices. Whatever perfume she used...he wanted her to bathe in it every day.

“I’m okay,” she nodded into his chest, pressing her cheek in a little more firmly. 

His arms squeezed around her, trying to pull her in as tightly as he could, trying to give her whatever little comfort he could give her right now. Then she pulled her face away to tip her head back, meeting him in the eye. His eyes dropped to her lips - he hadn’t meant to do it, but he just couldn’t help himself. Their faces were so close as Allie reached up and wrapped her hand around the back of his neck.

Her eyes lowered to his mouth as his heart hammered in his chest. Jax swallowed hard, unable to tear his eyes away from her lips. When her lips parted to suck in a breath, he dipped his head lower, leaning in to brush his lips against hers. 

Something exploded inside of him the second his mouth touched her lips, and whatever it was, there was no stopping it now as her lips parted to give him better access to her mouth. Her lips were so goddamn soft and tasted so fucking sweet. He couldn’t stop himself as he slid his tongue inside her mouth, feeling a rush of heat shoot through him when their tongues connected. 

He followed her lead, letting her backpedal through the living room and into her kitchen with their lips locked together and their tongues slipping in and out of each other’s mouths in a heated dance. When her back pressed up against the island in the kitchen, his hands slipped from her hips to her legs so he could lift her up onto the counter. Then he stepped in between her legs, spurred on by the way she tilted her hips off the edge of the counter so she could wrap her legs around his waist. Her legs pulled him in close, pressing that hardness growing between his legs right into her warmth. 

Their mouths moved together in unison, almost like they were always meant to be this way. He couldn’t get enough of her, feeling like he might combust right there on her kitchen floor if he didn’t feel more of her. The hand he’d kept on her face dropped down to her shoulder, slipping the cardigan down so he could feel her bare skin underneath his fingertips. She sighed against his lips as his fingertips dipped lower, moving down her shoulder and around her waist to slip just under her tank top. The second he touched that soft skin he’d found just above her hips, he bit back a shiver, tearing his mouth away from hers so he could explore her neck, tasting and nipping against her sweet skin.

Her head fell back as his mouth moved across her neck, capturing her low moan with his lips. Now, her hands worked themselves in his hair, tangling around his neck in a desperate attempt to pull him in even closer. She shifted her hips again to give him better access, and before he could stop himself, he grinded that hardness in between his legs right against the sweet warmth he found there. When Allie moaned against his lips, his knee-jerk reaction was to take her by the hips and grind against her again, needing the friction from in between her legs like he fucking needed air.

He let himself take that sweet torture from her one more time before kissing her again and then tearing his mouth away so he could drop his head into her shoulder. It physically _hurt_ to shift his hips back, and away from everywhere he wanted to be, but he forced himself to do it, to put some space between them. If he didn’t stop himself now, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever come up for air again.

Jax was perfectly fine living right here, in between her legs, for the rest of his life if she’d let him.

He took a deep breath against her shoulder, hating himself a little for the way her scent just made him itch to find that sweet spot between her legs again.

“I promise I didn’t come here for this,” he murmured against her skin. 

“Sure you didn’t,” she laughed lightly.

His head shot off her neck so he could look her in the eye. She was still laughing when his gaze slammed into hers, and then that laugh died on her lips.

“I really didn’t,” Jax told her, needing her to understand how serious he was about that. The last thing he wanted to do was make her think he’d shown up here tonight just to mess around. He _wasn’t_ messing around. And he needed her to understand that. “Look, I’m not quite sure what we’re doin’ here, Allie, but I know I like it,” he brought a hand up to her neck just for good measure, brushing his thumb against her cheek. “I know I wanna see where it’s going.”

Allie froze underneath his touch. At first, he panicked that he’d said too much, done too much, and now he’d made her feel like she had to bolt. Up until this moment, he’d gotten the feeling she was with him on this. She hadn’t shut him down. Hadn’t pushed him away. Hadn’t even resisted when he’d asked her out to dinner earlier that day. The second she’d put her hand on his thigh at that bar, that might as well have been the green light he needed to charge ahead.

But he didn’t want to charge ahead _too_ much, _too_ fast.

And then her lips parted to murmur, “Me too.”

He huffed out a laugh and pressed his lips against hers, mainly so he could mask the relief and the determination that had to be flashing across his face.

“I’m not with anyone else,” he explained and then swallowed tightly as those words hit hard. “And I don’t wanna be either.”

Allie seemed to catch what he’d been trying, and probably failing, to tell her in between the lines - _it’s just you. I just want you._

“I’m not with anyone else either,” she told him, a soft smile lifting her lips.

Another laugh burst from his throat. He’d figured that, but hadn’t necessarily wanted to assume. There was plenty she could assume about him, and he didn’t want to give her reason to do that. And now that she’d confirmed it for him out loud, it felt really fucking good to hear.

“And I don’t want anyone else,” Allie murmured into his ear.

Damn. That felt good too. Real good. Fucking better than good.

His eyes dropped to her lips again, and he found himself grinning at her like a damn idiot. This was _happening_. She wasn’t running and screaming the other way. She was right here, with her legs still wrapped around his waist, pulling him in again to seal her lips over his mouth. He let himself kiss her for a little longer, letting himself taste her just a little more, and sweep his tongue around hers just one more time before he forced himself to pull it back.

Jax reluctantly shifted his hips away, moving back a pace or two and resting his palms just outside her hips. Her hands were still in his hair when he heard her soft voice again.

“Now that we have _that_ out of the way,” she smiled. “I think we should...I just think it might be the right thing, for now, if we…”

“Keep this quiet?” Jax offered lightly, smirking down at her.

She huffed out a laugh, slipping a hand out of his hair and down his neck until it rested on his shoulder. “I don’t mean _hide_ , at least not exactly. Just with this,” she gestured between them, “and with the club and me working for the club...maybe it’s best to just not let anyone else in yet. I mean, Dan knows already, obviously. I couldn’t keep that from him if I tried, and we wouldn’t be able to either if you keep showing up like this. But other than that...”

He nodded. Yeah, he got that. This was still new, it was still fresh, and they were still figuring it out. They didn’t need to invite the club, and everyone else, into that just yet. At least not until they’d worked out exactly what this was and where they wanted it to go. Although, deep down, he already knew the answer. He just needed to make sure Allie was with him on that first.

Jax jerked his head toward the door with a grin. “I already told the prospect out there to keep his fuckin’ mouth shut.”

“Good,” Allie laughed. “And I’m sure he’ll do just that.”

“If he doesn’t wanna die, yeah.”

Allie’s lips curled up again and she bit back her smile as that hand on his shoulder slid to his chest. “I hate to say it, Jax, but I think I should probably kick you out now. If you stay any longer, I…” she trailed off, her chest rising and falling a little more rapidly now. 

He dared a step closer, willing himself to have some restraint, and brushed his lips against her mouth. Then he leaned back and pushed away from the counter completely, putting a good three feet of space in between himself and the inside of her thighs.

“I hear ya,” he murmured. 

If he let himself have her lips again, he might not be able to pull away. And although he’d happily get himself acquainted with the inside of her bedroom right now, this wasn’t the time. Not after everything she’d been through today, and not while this was still so new. Besides, he _wanted_ to take her out for that dinner tomorrow night and any other night she’d let him. He _wanted_ her to climb on the back of his bike so he could drive her around and show her off. He _wanted_ her to have the space she needed to figure out what he already knew. And, if he was being really honest with himself, it was what he’d already known for a long time. Probably longer than he was really willing to admit.

The when and the how of it wasn’t important - and he didn’t think he could pinpoint the exact moment he knew if he tried. Somewhere in between all the fighting and the teasing, the frustration and the lingering animosity, he’d waded his way through and found himself falling head over ass for her.

And that was more than okay. 

He took her hand to help her slide down from the countertop and held onto it as they ventured toward her front door, where he’d have to wait to do this until tomorrow night.

“So, I’m sendin’ Juice to the studio tomorrow,” Jax told her, bringing her hand to rest against his chest. “The prospect outside can follow you in - or drive you, whatever you wanna do. And Juice’ll be there in the morning, probably around eight or so. He’ll stay by your office all day and see you home, okay? I’d like to do it myself, but that doesn’t really help our case in keeping things quiet for now.”

She nodded, a small smile playing on her lips. It was important for her to understand why he wasn’t going to be the one at the studio with her tomorrow. He didn’t want her to be upset or misinterpret anything, but at the end of the day, they still had to carry on the way they had before, for the most part, until they couldn’t anymore. Before, he would’ve sent another club member anyway. The club president wasn’t going to sit outside their lawyer’s office all day on guard duty - that was just never gonna happen. The expectation was that he had better things to do, and honestly, he sorta did. Not that he didn’t want to see her, but he couldn’t be on guard, all day, all the time. There was club shit to do pretty much all the time, and he needed the time to do it.

“I understand,” Allie told him, her dark eyes soft and glimmering in a way that made it really hard not to kiss her again.

“Good,” he pushed out a rough sigh. “So I’ll see you tomorrow. Eight still works?”

Her lips lifted again. “Eight still works.”

“Okay,” he grinned back at her, pulling her hand up to his mouth so he could brush his lips over her knuckles. “Goodnight, Allie.”

“Night, Jax.”

He let her hand drop to his side, holding on as long as he could while he reached for the door to head toward the driveway. Finally, the distance between them pulled his hand away and he winked at her before pushing through her door and sauntering down the walkway to his bike.

With his hands in his pockets, he looked over his shoulder to see Allie still at the doorway, with her hand curled around the door as she watched him walk away. He flashed her a grin as he moved farther away, and she shook her head at him with a happy smile on her face as she shut the door behind her.

Now, he sauntered down the walkway, tapping two ringed fingers to his forehead at the prospect sitting in the truck, signaling that he was leaving and that the prospect was on his own again. Jax really didn’t have any reservations about this kid sitting outside Allie’s house whenever he was here - if he knew what was good for him, he’d take it to the grave, and Jax knew he would. That was just one of the perks of being Samcro president now. Respect was earned on the patch you wore, and no one’s patch mattered more than his right now.

He winced a little when he realized where his mind had just gone... _perks_ wasn’t a word he wanted to associate with Allie in any way. That wasn’t what this was about.

Still, as he swung his leg over his bike, snapped his helmet on, and revved the engine to life, he had to admit he liked this feeling. He almost felt like a new man. Almost felt like maybe, for once in his life, things might actually turn out the way he wanted them to, and that things like hope weren’t so trivial after all.

He knew exactly where this was going. Knew exactly what he wanted with her. And he knew there was no reason to rush.

Tomorrow was another day, and he was willing to wait for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - Thank you again to everyone who's reading (and commenting and leaving kudos!). I'm so glad this story is finding an audience and that you're enjoying reading it just as much as I am writing it. I'm happy to report that I'm working on chapter 31 right now ;)
> 
> The next chapter is their long-awaited date, and since everyone has waited so long for it, and since I've been waiting weeks to post this, I'm not going to make us wait too much longer. You can look for chapter 19 (and their date!) this Sunday. It's one of my absolute favorite chapters of this whole story, and after I wrote it, I wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to top it.
> 
> This chapter had a lot going on - the issue with her mom has escalated, and that means the club needs to get more involved too. But. But! That let Jax and Allie have their moment and their first kiss. They're together now, guys. Like together, together, even if they haven't given it a name yet. Eighteen chapters was long enough, and there's no going back now! And I have to say, writing them as a couple has been just as much fun, if not more so, than when they weren't and were fighting/flirting all the time. I can't wait to read your thoughts on this one! See you on Sunday!


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - Happy Sunday! Here's their date, as promised ;) This is also the point in the story where it really starts to earn it's M rating for more than just language.

Allie poured herself another cup of coffee the next morning and inhaled that sweet aroma inside her mug. This was her third cup already, and it was only 10:00. Sometimes, she really believed she wouldn’t make it through the day without it.

She smiled at Juice, who was hovering off to the side, careful to give her space but always never too far away. He nodded back to her with a tight smile, and after he eyed her coffee mug, she didn’t miss a beat. 

Allie poured him his own cup, pausing only to ask, “You need creamer or anything like that?”

Juice shook his head with a smile creeping across his face and gingerly took the coffee mug from her when she offered it out to him. “Thanks, Allie. You didn’t have to do that.”

“No worries,” she shrugged. “You look like you need it.”

“Well, takes one to know one.”

“Definitely,” Allie laughed back. 

From the corner of her eye, she saw her dad’s greying head walking down the hallway toward his office. He usually rolled into the studio at around this time - she’d always been more of an early riser than he ever was, and at some point, she’d stopped wondering where she got that from. But, now that he was in for the day, Allie knew she had to rip off the band-aid and bring him up to speed.

Jimmy was not going to be happy when he learned what his ex-wife had been up to, but there was no way she could keep it from him either. Not that she really wanted to. So, she carried her coffee mug down the hallway with Juice a careful distance away. He leaned against the wall as she knocked on her dad’s door, waited a few moments, and then poked her head through and closed the door behind her.

His eyes lit up when he saw his daughter at the office. “Morning, honey. How’s it going today?”

“Morning, Dad,” Allie smiled back at him. “It’s going okay.”

In a lot of ways, it was better than okay. She had a date with Jax Teller tonight.

But then she remembered the reason she’d popped into his office right now and decided to just get on with it. “So, Dad, I need to -”

“You know,” Jimmy wagged a finger at her as he walked around the side of his desk to get closer to her. “I think I know what you’re gonna say.”

“What do you mean?” Allie frowned.

“I got a phone call from our partner this morning,” he informed her with a small smile.

Allie felt a sharp pang in her chest. God, Dan was right - she really was in trouble. Just one mention of him, in the absolute wrong setting and the worst of circumstances, and her heart decided to stutter in her chest like an idiot.

“I see,” she offered in as measured a voice as she could manage.

“He didn’t go into the details, Allie,” her dad told her somberly. “But he told me enough. He mainly wanted to explain why the club was going to have two guys on patrol here, instead of just one.”

She swallowed hard and nodded tightly. Her dad shot her a sad smile as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders to pull her against his chest.

“I’m so sorry that happened, honey,” Jimmy murmured into her hair. “And I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“I bet you’re glad we partnered up with those guys now too, huh?”

Allie huffed out a laugh as Jimmy released her and put a hand to her cheek. “Yeah, I guess.”

“I’m really proud of you, you know,” he told her with a grin. “You stood your ground with her. You were clear and direct with her. I know it was hard, but trust me, I know from experience that that’s the only way to get through to her. I’d like to think her and that guy she’s with figured out pretty quickly to leave well enough alone now that they know the MC is involved.”

“Well, she knew that before. And she came back anyway. I don’t know, Dad...Jax and Opie are pretty convinced they’ll come back.”

Jimmy’s forehead creased into a concerned frown. “What do you mean she knew that before?”

“The last time she came over, before last night,” Allie sighed, and tucked some dark hair behind her ear. “Jax was there,” she saw the way Jimmy’s eyebrows lifted and jumped to explain it away, “Opie didn’t want me to be home by myself if she came back, especially if she was with that guy, and that particular time, Jax was the one who was able to be there. So, Mom saw him at my house. Definitely knew who he was. What he was. They still came back, Dad.”

Jimmy’s eyes dropped to the floor in thought, his forehead still crinkled into a disturbed frown. Then, a moment later, he nodded to himself before tearing his eyes away from the floor.

“Alright,” Jimmy allowed hoarsely. “If they have reason to believe your mom isn’t gonna go away anytime soon, I’ll defer to them on that. They’re probably right anyway.”

Allie pushed out another heavy sigh as Jimmy put a hand on her shoulder again, giving it a supportive squeeze.

“I gotta say, Allie,” Jimmy started again. “Our partner seems very taken with you.”

Her heart leapt into her throat, and her eyes flew to her dad in a panic. “What do you mean?”

Jimmy eyed her slyly before wagging a finger at her. “He didn’t come right out and say it. But I think, somewhere between him saying he wasn’t willing to risk your safety and that it was non-negotiable, I figured this was more... _ personal  _ for him than he was really saying.”

She had to bite down on her bottom lip to hide her smile. Her stupid heart fluttered in her chest uncontrollably...she definitely needed to get a handle on that before tonight. There was no telling what she might do if she couldn’t.

“So,” Jimmy grinned at her. “I take it my assumptions were correct? You two are…”

Allie inhaled slowly, keeping her bottom lip firmly between her teeth. This was new territory for them in their father-daughter relationship, especially given that this was the first time in her adult life that she’d really had to confront real, true, and honest feelings for a man that wasn’t her father, her roommate, or her former step-brother.

Because that’s what this was. There was no point in playing dumb - that wasn’t a role she was interested in playing and she wasn’t stupid. She could meet this challenge head-on and make space for it in her life because the alternative wasn’t an option for her now.

She had real, true, and honest feelings for him. Those feelings had always been there. They’d never gone away. And they’d changed too - she knew that now. They’d somehow shifted into something deeper, something tangible, something strong and true. And they’d somehow weaved their way into every fabric of her life to the point where there was just nothing left to do.

If her options were being with Jax, and  _ not _ being with him, then there really wasn’t a choice.

“I”ll take that as a yes,” Jimmy smiled softly and squeezed her shoulder. “But, I always thought you didn’t even  _ like  _ him, let alone...I don’t know, you just seemed more likely to douse him in gasoline and light him on fire than, well...you know.”

The reality was that she’d never  _ hated _ him. Her feelings had manifested themselves as more of a  _ strong dislike _ than anything. He was an annoyance. A thorn in her side that enjoyed ruffling her feathers at every turn, but without any real substance behind it. That defense mechanism was the armor she pulled on every day she had to be around him - both recently and years ago in school. But had she known then what she knew now, that armor would’ve fallen to the side, one piece at a time. All her defenses were useless against a Jax Teller who had real, true, and honest feelings for her.

That helplessness would’ve terrified her before. It probably  _ should’ve  _ terrified her. But now, she found herself running toward it with both arms wide open.

“I was wrong about him,” Allie offered simply. “He’s different than what I thought he was.”

And he was what she wanted. And, deep down, she knew he was what she needed. She still hadn’t quite recovered from the way he’d just slid into her life, taking over when he needed to but also giving her space when he sensed she needed it, giving her such clear signals, being so direct about what he wanted from her...her heart still didn’t quite know what to do with all that. All she knew was that it had been over for her the moment he pressed his lips against hers last night, then again when he’d told her, under no uncertain terms, that she was the one he wanted.

She also still couldn’t believe she was standing here, in her dad’s office, having these thoughts. It still felt surreal...how had this become her life?

“Alright,” Jimmy smiled. “Well, I’m happy for you, honey. I really am. If this is what you want, and if he makes you happy...treats you right...then I’m in your corner, Allie.”

Her heart continued its annoying backflips in her chest. This was all happening really fast, it seemed, and while she was still playing catch-up, she also wasn’t afraid of it. As completely crazy and reckless as it was...she wasn’t scared, at least not yet.

“Thanks, Dad.”

And then she remembered.

“Just so you are aware,” Allie started hesitantly. “We’re trying to keep this sorta quiet for now. It’s new and…”

Jimmy was nodding before she even finished. “I get that. Makes sense, given your relationship with the club. But, I gotta say, you’re not stupid and neither is Jax. I can’t imagine either of you would risk the work you’re doing for them if this wasn’t serious between you two.”

She nodded with a small smile. Yeah, that was true too. This  _ was  _ serious. She wouldn’t have let herself drop headfirst into it if it wasn’t - she liked to believe she had more self-awareness and common sense than that. Jax’s commitment to the club and his position within it also spoke volumes - there was just no scenario where he would sacrifice how badly the club needed her help for something casual with her. It wouldn’t be worth it in the long run.

So, she thought with a smile, she must be worth it.

“Well,” Jimmy grinned, squeezing her shoulder again. “Good luck keeping it quiet at the wrap party tomorrow. You’re gonna need it.”

Allie huffed out a laugh and shook her head at him. He might be right about that, but they could try.

“Hey, speaking of that,” Jimmy was saying now. “I wanted to run the menu by you for tomorrow night. What do you say?”

Allie grinned. And just like that, they were back in work mode.

* * *

Allie glanced at the time on her phone for about the 15th time in the last 10 minutes. It was 7:44 and she still had 16 more minutes. She’d been ready to go for the last half hour and now was just killing time by triple-checking her makeup, brushing her teeth again, doing a deodorant check, re-curling a few strands that had fallen a little...all the fun pre-date girl stuff. After purposefully locking Dan out of her room when she got home from the studio, she’d still been grateful to find he’d set out a sheet mask and an assorted collection of makeup that he  _ recommended  _ she use in her preparations for the evening.

Dan, to his credit, had only pounded on her bedroom door for a few minutes before giving up and leaving her to own devices. But, the thing was, she didn’t need his help in getting ready for this night. She knew what she wanted to wear and how she wanted her makeup and hair to look just as much as she knew what she wanted from this night.

The only instruction she’d given to Dan was that, under no circumstance was she allowed to let Jax in the house when they came back from dinner. If that happened, it was more likely than not she wouldn’t let him leave. Well, there was almost a hundred percent certainty she wouldn’t let him leave. So, that decision had been an easy one. Jax just couldn’t come inside the house.

She let herself look in the mirror one more time, and smiled. It wasn’t just that her hair, makeup, and outfit was on point. This felt different because it  _ was _ . She felt different because...well, because she was. And for the first time in a really long time, the person staring back at her in the mirror looked a little more like someone she recognized. Someone who was happy. Someone who was excited about her life. Someone who was eager to see where it would take her.

Now, it was 7:51, so she pulled her leather booties on and walked out of her room to head down the stairs. Dan, of course, was perched expectantly on the couch with his phone in his hand. The second he saw her, he leapt up from his seat and practically skipped to her with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“Well,” he exhaled as he took her hand and gave her a twirl. “Look at you. Hmm, yeah, you definitely know what you’re doing.”

He gestured to her form-fitting, silky purple dress with its tiny blue and red flower pattern and his mouth twisted into a knowing smile. The hem had some flouncy gathered layers and hit right in the middle of her thighs, showing off more leg than she’d ever dared to around Jax before. She’d topped it off with her leather jacket, which was just as much of a statement, given the leather cut he’d be wearing, as it was for warmth.

She looked good. She knew that. Maybe she did want to drive him a little crazy just because she could. What was so wrong with that?

And then the tell-tale rumble of a motorcycle engine bounced off the street.

Dan’s eyes flashed with excitement, and he raced to the window, slapping a few of the blinds down so he could get a better look at the driveway.

“Oh my God, he’s here,” Dan murmured under his breath. “He is  _ here _ . And he’s early. Can I take your picture before you leave? Please, please, pretty please with sugar on top? It’s for my scrapbook.”

“Dan,” Allie laughed, despite the nervous butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. “If you take my picture right now, I’m smothering you with a pillow tonight.”

“Okay, fine,” he snapped back as he stepped away from the window. And then his dark eyes flashed again. “He looks  _ good.  _ But then again, so do you. And you,” he bopped her on the nose as he spoke, “my friend, are completely and utterly fucked.”

Allie inhaled shakily and then swallowed back her nerves. “Yeah, I know.”

His mouth twisted into another sly grin and then he gestured with his head toward the door. “Go get ‘em then.”

Those butterflies in her stomach took flight as she bit back a light laugh. Then, with a deep breath, she reached for the door handle and pulled it open.

Jax was already in her driveway when she stepped out onto her front porch. As he swung his leg over the side of his bike, her eyes drank him in. He was wearing his typical uniform - baggy jeans, white sneakers, black and bright blue flannel, his Reaper cut, and slicked-back dark blonde hair. He was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen in her entire life. And then that beautiful man looked up, and he smiled at her, sending those butterflies soaring.

His lips curled up into a sexy smirk as she walked toward him. Jax didn’t move, letting her close the distance between them, his gaze flicking up and down the length of her as she drew closer. A surge of power rolled through her, confident in the path she was taking. She’d never been more sure of anything.

When she was about three feet away from him, Jax shoved his hands in his pockets, rocking back on his heels as his eyes started their trail at her leather booties, flashing a little when they skimmed up the bare skin on her legs, and finally settling squarely on her face, lingering dangerously on her lips. His chest was rising and falling a little more rapidly now, and he sucked in a harsh breath when she felt her own lips lift at him.

And then she kept right on walking, brushing past him and his bike to head down the driveway.

“Hey,” Jax called out behind her. “What are you doin’?”

“What does it look like?” she laughed over her shoulder. “I’m heading to the restaurant.”

“Allie.”

She dared a glance over her shoulder, biting back a grin, and found him staring back at her with his helmet in one hand and the other thrown up in the air in frustration. He pointed to his bike, his eyebrows lifted high into his forehead, confusion and agitation written all over his beautiful face.

“Allie, get on the bike.”

She just laughed and called out: “No.”

“What do you mean,  _ no _ ?” Jax shot back incredulously. “Get on the bike.”

“No.”

Now his eyes glinted a little dangerously as he took a step toward her, his lips curving into an annoyed smirk. “Allie. Get on the fucking bike.”

Another laugh rumbled in her chest as she just shook her head at him, grinning evilly when a hard line ticked down his jaw in response. He stared back at her for a beat, his blue eyes narrowing ever so slightly, and then he took off after her, bounding toward her like some kind of predatory panther. She shrieked right through another laugh, turning on her heel to sprint to the sidewalk, but he was too quick.

He scooped her up by the knees, tossing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and then jogged easily back to his bike, where he dumped her unceremoniously on the seat.

Even though she was still laughing, her arms worked their way around his neck and into his hair as he stepped in between her legs as if it was the most natural thing in the world. His hands dropped to her hips, adjusting her on the black leather seat and shifting her legs so they moved away from the muffler, and then he finally settled those blue eyes on her with an exasperated smirk playing on his lips.

“You look beautiful,” Jax murmured in her ear. “You always look beautiful, but tonight, you look…”

_ Like yours,  _ she thought.

He trailed off to press a soft kiss into her neck and then he dropped his forehead onto her shoulder. When he pulled his head away to meet her in the eye, his expression was more determined now. Almost desperate.

“Will you  _ please  _ get on my bike?”

Her lips lifted into a smile and she slipped her hands from his hair, sliding them down until they rested lightly on his chest. “I  _ am  _ on your bike.”

Jax pushed out an exasperated sigh. “You know what I mean.”

“Why does it matter so much to you?” she narrowed her eyes playfully at him. “I don’t see why we can’t walk. The restaurant is only two blocks away, and it’s a beautiful night for a walk.”

He tore a hand through his hair, flashing some tattoos on his forearm that made her mouth water a little.

“I want you on my bike, Allie. There’s nothin’ more to say.”

“Well,” she told him simply as she gripped the edges of his cut to pull him in. “I’ll get on your bike when I’m good and ready. Now, you really just have two options here. You can get on your bike and drive over there by yourself and sit at the restaurant for,” she shrugged, “ten minutes or so while you wait for me to catch up. Which, I think might be a little difficult for you anyway, considering you don’t know where you’re going.”

Jax’s lips curled into a resigned smirk. “What’s my second option?”

“Oh, I think you know.”

He exhaled roughly as he pulled his lips to the side of his face, his jaw working around an irritated grin. “You know, babe, I think you just might be the death of me.”

“Oh,” she jutted out her bottom lip a little and pressed her hand into his cheek, crinkling her nose at him. “Jax, we’re not doing  _ babe.  _ Sorry...that’s just not happening.”

Jax narrowed his eyes, leaning in to push his hips against the inside of her thighs. A rush of heat flushed right between her legs, and she had to bite back a low sigh. Yeah, he knew exactly what he was doing too.

“Tell ya what,” he grinned down at her. “If you don’t get on the back of my bike, I’m gonna call you whatever the fuck I want for as long as I fucking want. How do ya like that?”

Allie stared back at him, momentarily disarmed by the turnabout. Then she recovered just as quickly with a shrug, pushing back lightly against his chest so she could slide off the leather seat and step onto the driveway, only to be pulled back by the strap of her purse. Before she had a chance to protest, Jax slipped her purse right off her shoulder, unsnapped it, and started rifling through it.

“Hey!” she laughed in disbelief. “What do you think you’re doing?”

He just shrugged and continued rummaging through her purse until his eyes flashed victoriously, and then he held up her keys with a bright grin. “We’re takin’ your car,  _ babe _ .”

Her lips parted to argue but the words died in her throat. There was really no good reason why they  _ couldn’t  _ take her car. And, the more she wrapped her mind around the idea, the more it seemed like a natural compromise. Still, she could not allow his use of that particular term of endearment to go unanswered.

Allie narrowed her eyes at him, stepping forward so that her breasts brushed up against the leather covering his chest. His nostrils flared, and his blue eyes darkened hungrily at the sudden contact.

She reached up to take him by the neck and lower his head down so she could murmur in his ear, “If you call me  _ babe  _ one more time, I will  _ never  _ get on the back of your bike. How do ya like that?”

Allie turned her head so their noses were almost touching, their chests heaving as Jax’s eyes dropped to her lips. He swallowed hard, his jaw working a tight line across his mouth, and then he took a step back to put some more space between them.

“Well,” he murmured hoarsely. “I guess we’d better get going then.”

He swung her keys around his index finger playfully as he handed her purse back to her and backpedalled toward her garage door, gesturing with his free hand for her to punch in the code to open the door. She rolled her eyes at him, but obliged him by entering the code and opened the door.

“The code is 9544,” Allie told him over her shoulder as she moved to the passenger side door. “You know, in case you ever need it for something.”

Her eyes flicked up to him from over the top of her car and found him staring back at her, his movements momentarily halted. Then his mouth curved into a lop-sided grin that made her heart ache.

“9544, huh?” he told her, putting a hand on the top of the driver side door as he spoke. “Good to know. I’ll make sure to commit it to memory,  _ darlin’ _ .”

He winked at her, even as she narrowed her eyes, and then he slid into the driver’s seat, shutting his door behind him. Allie eyed him warily, watching as he ran his hands along the steering wheel and took a quick inventory of the black leather interior, from the touch screen in the middle of the dash, to the center console and all its little compartments.

“Nice,” he commented easily as he pushed the start button to his right to rev her BMW to life. “I’ve been itchin’ to get behind the wheel of this thing for awhile,” Jax shifted his eyes in her direction to waggle his eyebrows playfully, “I think I’m really gonna enjoy this.”

Allie just rolled her eyes at him as he put the car in reverse and backed down the driveway. About three seconds later, her sound system kicked in, blaring out the podcast she’d been listening to through the speakers. After listening for another few moments, Jax cocked an eyebrow at her, even as he put his hand on the back of her headrest to look behind him and pull out onto the street.

“What?” she laughed. “You mean to tell me a podcast where every episode is about a different Supreme Court case  _ doesn’t  _ have you on the edge of your seat?”

“Not particularly, but hey, if that’s what you’re into...” he told her warily. “So where am I headed?”

She pointed down the street. “Take a left at the stop sign, and then another left at the end of that street. The restaurant’s right on the corner.”

“A’ight,” Jax grinned, chuckling as she reached up to pause the episode on the screen. Then he caught her hand in his, bringing it up to his mouth so he could brush his lips against her knuckles.

She inhaled shakily, completely thrown off balance as he intertwined their hands and rested them on the console between them.

“So,” he turned his head to smile softly at her before shifting his eyes back to the road. “How was your day?”

There it was again...those butterflies were going to wreak havoc on her heart tonight.

“Busy,” Allie exhaled. “As usual. Things were pretty bustling around the studio with the wrap party tomorrow. How about you?”

He just lifted a shoulder and flashed her a grin. “Same old, same old. Though, I  _ did  _ get a very interesting report from the prospect who was sitting outside your house.”

“Oh yeah?” she laughed. “And what was that?”

“Apparently,” he smirked at her as they rolled up to the first stop sign. “You showed up in your driveway at 5 am, all decked out in running gear with your earbuds in, and then you proceeded to  _ run,  _ non-stop mind you, for about 6 miles or so. The prospect wasn’t really sure because, apparently, you tried to  _ lose  _ him a few times too.”

“I don’t remember trying to  _ lose  _ him exactly,” she frowned. “Do you have any idea how awkward it is trying to exercise, and actually focus on said exercise, when you have a truck driving right next to you? It sucks, Jax. It really sucks. So, maybe,” she allowed with a smile. “ _ Maybe  _ I might’ve cut through a yard or two to put a little distance between us. You know, for appearances sake.”

“For appearances sake?” he barked out a laugh, shaking his head ruefully. “Alright, fine. I can understand why you might not want someone right on your heels in a truck like that. What if he ran with ya next time instead? Then would you let him stay close?”

“Please,” she just batted a hand in the air. “Like that kid could keep up with me.”

He shot her an exasperated glance. “I’m not sure  _ anybody  _ could keep up with you. But my point, Allie, is that you gotta just let him do his job, alright? He’s there for a reason. I know it’s inconvenient, and I doubt we’re gonna have any real problems at five in the morning anyway, but that’s not a risk I’m willin’ to take. I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.”

Her heart pounded in her chest. When he said things like that, sometimes she wondered how she remembered her own name.

It took her a little while to figure out how to form a coherent sentence again, and by the time she got around to it, Jax was pulling into a parking space in the restaurant’s parking lot. She got out of the car, readjusting the skirt on her dress a little and noting how light Jax seemed on his feet as he sauntered around the side of the car and tucked her car keys into his pocket. He draped an arm around her shoulders as he swung the restaurant’s door open with the other.

The restaurant was pretty busy for this time at night, with the few tables inside pushed to the sides and filled to the brim. Someone was setting up for a live performance in the small stage by the corner, and the bar was packed full with hardly an inch of space free.

“I thought you said this was a little hole in the wall?” Jax leaned in to murmur through the noise.

“It is,” she just shrugged. “Or at least it was. I told you I haven’t been here in forever...do you want to try somewhere else?”

“Nah,” he grinned down at her. “I don’t mind this place at all. Let’s hang for a little bit and see what happens.”

They waited near the waiters’ tiny booth to put their name on the waitlist, and then hovered off to the side for a bit, with some more hand holding in between, until Jax spied an even tinier opening on the side of the bar. He led her through the small crowd by the hand, weaving in and around the cafe tables until he sidled up to the empty spot, grabbing hold of the empty barstool before anyone else could take it.

He gestured for her to have a seat, but she just shrugged, leaning in to explain, “I’ve been sitting all day. I really don’t mind standing for a little while.”

Jax lifted a shoulder, then dropped down onto the barstool, resting an elbow on the bartop to wave one of the bartenders over. His free arm snaked around her waist to pull her in so that she was all but straddling his right thigh as she stood at the bar. Allie shot him a wary glance over her shoulder, but swallowed tightly when he just sat his chin down on her left shoulder as he gave his order to the bartender. Then the bartender tipped his chin to her for her order.

“Diet Coke, please,” she told him. Then she pushed out a long exhale - it felt really good to be standing at a bar with someone and  _ not  _ feel like a freak for ordering soda instead of alcohol. The warm hand around her waist tucked her in even closer so that he was practically hugging her to him with his chin still sitting lightly on her left shoulder.

“When can we do this again?” Jax murmured in her ear.

She shivered a little, turning her head so that their noses were almost kissing. “Well, there’s that wrap party tomorrow night.”

“Hm mm. But we can’t do  _ this _ there,” he tightened the arm wrapped around her waist to emphasize his point.

“I know,” she sighed. “Do you think it’s gonna be really hard not to...do  _ this _ tomorrow?”

He nodded against her shoulder. “Yeah,” he whispered hoarsely. “Real fuckin’ hard.”

“Yeah,” she smiled softly. “I think so too.”

When his eyes dropped to her lips again, with their faces so close, she knew she needed to pull them out for a little while, at least until they weren’t surrounded by people in a crowded restaurant.

“You should probably know that you gave yourself away to my dad this morning.”

His forehead dipped into a frown, but there was still a smirk playing on his lips. “Oh really? How’d I manage that?”

“He said something about you telling him my safety was something you weren’t going to risk and that it was a non-negotiable. After that, he pretty much figured it out.”

“Ah,” Jax nodded in understanding, and then he just shrugged as the bartender set their drinks in front of them. He shifted them against the bar for a moment so he could dig his wallet out of his back pocket and toss some bills onto the bartop. “Well, I can’t say I’m sorry about it. He’s gonna find out eventually anyway.”

“That’s true,” she nodded before taking a quick sip of her soda. “And I guess, it’s not the worst thing in the world that he knows. He was actually pretty supportive about it.”

“What do you mean  _ actually pretty supportive _ ? You say that like it’s a bad thing, darlin’,” he laughed, pressing his chest against her back a little more as he spoke. He reached around her for his beer bottle and took a long pull from it.

“Well,” Allie grinned as she shifted in his arms so that she could lean her elbow on his shoulder, effectively forcing his chin off her shoulder, but giving them easier access to talk. “I was more surprised than anything. He’s my dad. And you’re...you. If you were him, how would you feel?”

He seemed to take a moment to consider that, rolling his head from side to side in thought. “I guess I see where you’re comin’ from. If I were him, I’d probably be comin’ after me with a baseball bat and a shovel. So, I guess I should be thanking my fuckin’ lucky stars that Jimmy  _ isn’t  _ me. And maybe, from what you’re sayin’, I should take a moment or two, if I can get it tomorrow night, and set him straight? Make sure he understands what  _ this  _ is?”

“I’m not quite sure I understand it myself,” she laughed in spite of everything. “So, if you wanna give it a shot, you’re welcome to try.”

His lips lifted in a knowing smirk and he tightened the arm around her to pull her flush against his side. “You know, Allie. Just because we haven’t said it out loud yet doesn’t mean we don’t know what  _ this  _ is.”

Allie sucked in a shaky breath and swallowed tightly. If she spoke out loud right now, she felt like she couldn’t be held responsible for what she said. Or what she did after that. So, she opted to just nod, keeping herself silent until the bartender asked them if they just wanted menus to order something at the bar.

Jax just shrugged, leaning in to murmur, “I’m good like this if you are.”

“Sure,” she smiled softly.

After they put their food order in, Allie finally felt like she had her bearings under her again. So, she leaned back, prompting his attention and he set his chin on her shoulder again to listen.

“I never answered your question before about when you want to do this again. I think we’ve established that tomorrow doesn’t really count.”

“That’s right,” he chuckled.

“What about Friday then?”

His eyes flashed a little with something she couldn’t quite place. “Friday nights I’m at the clubhouse. Can’t get around that one, darlin’. People would definitely notice I was missing. And I have a feeling we’re not quite there yet, right?”

Allie swallowed tightly, not quite sure just how much she wanted to know what about he’d be doing at the clubhouse on Friday night. “Right.”

Jax’s lips lifted knowingly before he dropped a kiss onto her shoulder and then shifted his gaze back to her. “You remember what I said, right? I told you I wasn’t with anyone else and that I didn’t wanna be. That’s not gonna change just because I’m at the clubhouse on Friday nights.”

“Okay,” she smiled softly. “That’s good to know. I don’t like to share.”

His eyes flashed possessively and the hand around her waist tightened its grip. “Neither do I.”

And then those butterflies took flight again, tightening and squeezing around her heart in a way she couldn’t quite reconcile.

“How about Saturday then?” she laughed. “My weekends are a little more flexible anyway.”

“Saturday works,” he grinned. “What do you wanna do?”

“I don’t know,” Allie eyed him warily. “You pushed it off on me this time, so next time you’re on your own.”

“Hmm, I guess you’re right. Maybe a movie? I haven’t done that in -”

“No!” Allie cut in abruptly, definitely more abruptly than she’d meant to.

“Shit,” Jax laughed as their bartender put their tacos in front of them. “What you got against goin’ to a movie? Whatever,” he batted a hand in the air and then reached for one of his steak tacos. “No big deal. I’ll think of somethin’ else.”

Allie eyed him carefully, studying the rings on his hand as he lifted his food to his mouth, watching the way his lips wrapped around the taco shell, then her eyes dropped to the tattoo on his forearm, the taut muscles hidden underneath his worn flannel shirt, wondering about the way they would feel underneath her fingertips, what it would be like to reach down and unbuckle his belt and slide her hand inside his jeans, and...then she was sunk. So much for holding out as long as she could.

“You know,” Allie told him with a sly smile. “I changed my mind. Let’s go to a movie.”

At this point, it made very little sense to deny herself what she was sure would be the best trip to the movies in her entire life.

“Okay,” he grinned back at her with a nod. “A movie it is.”

She bit down on her bottom lip to hide her smile, not wanting to give herself away. He had no idea what he’d just agreed to for Saturday night, but she had a feeling he’d come around to the idea pretty quickly. Then she busied herself with her dinner, eating those street tacos - which were as delicious as she remembered - while perched against Jax’s right thigh. He kept that hand wrapped around her waist firmly in place, needing only his left hand to finish his dinner and drink his beer.

They finished up their tacos and Jax paid the bill right around the time the live music started. The crowd seemed to instinctively shift closer to the makeshift stage in the corner of the restaurant, giving them a little more room at the bar. They turned around, with their backs pressed up against the bar, and Allie slid into the now-empty barstool next to Jax to get comfortable for the show. He draped an arm around her shoulders, tucking her in close underneath his arm so she could rest her head on his shoulder.

“So,” she started softly, her heart fluttering a little at the way he dipped his head lower to hear her. “At the wrap party tomorrow, I’m guessing we’ll just keep our distance?”

He nodded tightly, his jaw clenching into a taut line.

“I probably won’t go home in between work and the party. Dan and I usually get ready together in one of the dressing rooms before the parties start anyway, so I’ll already be at the party when you get there with the rest of the club.”

Jax nodded again, listening carefully. “Alright.”

“Do you think Gemma’s gonna come?”

His eyebrows lifted a little at that. “I don’t know for sure. I think Dan might’ve talked her into it when they were hangin’ out together at the carnival last weekend. So, I guess we’ll just have to see.”

“Okay,” she smiled. “I hope she does come. She deserves to have some fun.”

“Yeah, I think so too.”

She was grateful for the heads up that Gemma was probably going to be at the party tomorrow. She needed to make sure she was in the right headspace tomorrow, and prepare herself for anything, especially coming face-to-face with Jax’s mother in light of the way her relationship with her son had just shifted. Still, Allie really did hope that Gemma decided to come to the party, if even just to let loose and enjoy a night out again. She really did deserve that.

“I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that I tend not to linger at the studio’s parties for too long for obvious reasons,” Allie told him with a small smile. “So, after I leave, I think the smart thing to do would be for you to wait, oh, I don’t know, maybe an hour or so, and then, if you wanted to, you could swing by and test your memory.”

His eyebrows quirked. “On what?”

“On my garage door code.”

Jax eyed her for a moment before a slow smile curved up the side of his face. He leaned in to press a soft kiss to the side of her neck, letting his lips linger along her skin as if he was tasting her and breathing her in. She had to suck in a harsh breath - going to a movie was for Saturday. That didn’t mean they couldn’t, say, get some popcorn first. Maybe some Twizzlers. Or a big box of Junior Mints. But the main attraction was this Saturday. She could wait that long.

She hoped.

“You wanna get outta here?” Jax murmured against her neck.

Allie pushed out a deep breath.  _ Saturday,  _ she chanted to herself.  _ Saturday. _

“Sure.”

They didn’t say much else as Jax took her by the hand, helped her slide off her barstool, and led her through the crowd toward the parking lot. They still didn’t say much to each other when they got back inside her car, and Jax sped them down the street, nearly blowing through the two stop signs on their drive back to her house. They still didn’t say much when Jax hit the garage door opener on her visor and pulled her car into the garage, put the car in park, and shut it off.

She hesitated for just a moment. She knew what was going to happen next and was mentally prepared for it. She just needed a moment to take a deep breath before she completely let go and let herself fall.

Allie turned her head to find Jax already watching her, his blue eyes darkening hungrily the second their gazes made contact. Then they moved at the same time, meeting in the middle at the center console, their lips colliding like their lives depended on it. Before she knew what was happening, Allie found herself crawling over the console to get to him. Her left leg got caught in the crossfire, and Jax laughed against her lips as he gripped her by the hips to help pull her body over the rest of the way. With both thighs straddling him now, Allie weaved her hands through his hair, pulling his face closer to her so she could push her tongue through his parted lips.

She moaned breathlessly against his lips when his fingertips slipped underneath the hem of her dress and skimmed along the bare skin he found there until his fingers splayed firmly around her ass. Then his fingers drifted even further to slip along the silky edge of her thong, and he groaned against her lips before tearing his mouth away to drop his forehead onto her shoulder.

“Oh, fuck,” he muttered hoarsely. “ _ Fuck _ .”

Something snapped in her in that moment, and she felt frenzied, feverish with the need to just be closer to him in any way she could. She leaned back, keeping their mouths connected, and hurriedly started to pull off her leather jacket. Jax’s hands shot out from underneath her dress to help her get her sleeves down, and then she tossed the jacket haphazardly onto the passenger side, bringing her hands around Jax’s face to kiss him more deeply. His hands found their way under her dress again, sliding up and around until they hit the thin strip of fabric underneath, and he groaned into her mouth, pressing their foreheads together before capturing her lips again with his mouth.

Now, she found herself pressing her hips down and deep, desperately seeking some friction and some relief from the ache in between her legs. She knew she would find it there, and that he would give it to her if she asked him to. She ground her hips down, feeling a thrill shoot through her entire body all the way down to her toes when her warm center found the hardness in his jeans. That was all for her. And she wanted more.

She reached for his belt buckle in a haze, acutely aware that his fingertips had moved aside her thong and were now sliding down and down until - he abruptly pulled away, and gently shoved her into the steering wheel, his chest heaving rapidly against his leather cut. His blue eyes were so dark they were practically black as he panted, keeping his hands firmly at her hips, but on the outside of her dress.

“I’m sorry, darlin’,” Jax murmured hoarsely. “But the first time I get to have you is not gonna be in the front seat, or the back seat, of a car. I don’t care if it’s a fuckin’ BMW or not.”

She huffed out a laugh, taking a moment to lean back and run a hand through her mussed hair and push some of it out of her face. “And what would you prefer then?”

Jax’s eyes glinted dangerously as his grip on her hips tightened. “A bed. Preferably.”

He pulled her against his chest, pressing himself deeper against her so that she had no choice but to let him deeper inside between her legs, sinking deeper onto his lap and wrapping an arm around his neck. She sucked in a shaky breath and swallowed hard, completely unprepared for what he said next. 

“Can I come in, Allie?”

Allie swallowed tightly, needing a moment to get her bearings, and she answered shakily, “And where would we go if we went inside?”

His lips curved into a roguish smirk, and she couldn’t help but grind herself against him again. That only spurred him on to murmur, “Your bedroom. Preferably. Where I would assume you have a bed.”

She pressed their foreheads together, lost in the way his body felt against hers, in the way that, despite their size differences, they still seemed to fit perfectly together. She squeezed her eyes shut, and gave him the only answer she could give.

“Not tonight.”

Jax exhaled roughly, nodding almost at the exact same time. Then he blew out another heavy breath, his chest still heaving underneath his leather cut. And then his lips broke apart into the sexiest smile she’d ever seen. He might as well have reached out and taken her heart in his hand right then. He owned it now. He might as well take it with him when he left tonight.

“Alright, darlin’,” he grinned. “I can wait.”

His hands cupped her face to bring her in closer, and so he could press a light, sweet kiss into her lips. Then he gave her a light smack on the ass as his arms started to haul her back over the other side of the center console. Once she was deposited safely back onto the passenger seat, Jax blew out another heavy breath and passed her the keys.

“Thanks for lettin’ me take your car for a spin,” he winked at her. “I knew it would be fun and it didn’t disappoint.”

“I’m glad you had a good time,” Allie laughed as she worked to untangle some of the knots he’d weaved in her hair.

“I really did,” Jax told her, his eyes seeming to burn right through her. And then he wagged a ringed finger at her. “But sooner or later, you’re gonna get on my bike. Mark my words, Allie. It’s gonna happen. I haven’t figured out how yet, but it’s gonna happen.”

“If you say so,” she laughed again as she slid out of the car and shut the door behind her. He followed her lead, getting out of her car, and shutting the door just as she walked around the side to wrap her arms around his neck.

He held her against him for a few moments, wrapping his arms around her waist to draw her in even deeper. And when she finally let herself pull away from him, she kept a hand on his neck, letting the other slide down to his chest. The way he was looking at her right now, his blue eyes so full of everything they weren’t quite ready to say out loud...he looked like he wanted to devour her and hold her all at the same time. There was just no denying it and no defending against it.

“You were right,” she whispered. “I do know what this is, even if we haven’t said it out loud yet.”

Jax studied her for a moment, his eyes moving around her face, drinking her in, memorizing her, and then his lips lifted at the corners of his mouth as his eyes sparked back at her.

“Good,” he murmured, leaning down to kiss her one last time before pulling away and heading for the garage door.

“I’ll see you tomorrow night, darlin’,” Jax called out over his shoulder, waving at her with a cocky smirk on his face as he punched in the code to close her garage door.

He winked at her as the door closed, cutting off her view of him as he disappeared down her driveway and headed toward his bike.

Yeah, she had a feeling she’d be getting on that bike sooner, rather than later. And now, after the night they’d just had together, she was looking forward to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - So, thoughts on their date? I can't even tell you how much fun it was to write, and I have to say, I think I like writing them together, as a couple, more than when they weren't together. They're still flirty and teasing each other - and there's still all the sexual tension, but now they can actually do something about it, you know?
> 
> Anyone want to start taking bets on how long they can make it through the wrap party without anyone catching on?
> 
> Anyway, thank you again to everyone who has read (and commented!). It's so great to know that people are reading this and enjoying this relationship just as much as I am. This has been a really great quarantine distraction for me, and I hope it is for you too. Look for another regularly-scheduled update this Wednesday - that's the wrap party (and will again earn it's M rating)!
> 
> I'm looking forward to your thoughts on this one ;)


	20. Chapter Twenty

The party was already in full swing by the time Allie pushed through the small crowd to join Dan by the bar. He had two pieces of pizza in one hand, and a glass of champagne in the other, and she laughed as he delicately passed her one of the slices, careful not to spill any of his precious champagne.

“I still don’t really agree that pizza and champagne are the best combo,” Allie told him good-naturedly.

“Who cares what you think?” Dan batted a hand at her, leaning against the bar to take a sip from his champagne flute. “You’re not drinking it and neither is Lyla. So, I think the rest of us can do whatever we want.”

“Point taken,” Allie laughed. 

Although, she was still on the fence about her dad’s menu choices. In his efforts to assuage the needs, and the tastes, of his typical party-goers and the studio’s still-newish partnership with the club, Jimmy was definitely still feeling his way through it. But, she couldn’t imagine that his efforts weren’t going unnoticed either - that, and, Lyla had specifically requested pizza. Pregnancy cravings, apparently.

“This is all a pretty good deflection, you know,” Dan leaned in conspiratorially. “I know how nervous you are. Don’t even try to protest. I know the thoughts you’re gonna have before they even pop into your head. Just be cool. And hey - you could just pretend you hate him like you used to. I’d say a frosty indifference should do the trick.”

When the next song started blaring through the speakers, Dan’s eyes flashed a little recklessly. He started swiveling his shoulders to the beat and bopped her with his hip, and then he leaned in to sing along with the words, “ _ Workin’ all week, 9 to 5 for my money, so when the weekend comes, I go get live with the honey…” _

He waggled her eyebrows at her, gesturing with his head toward the dance floor. Dan held out a hand, and she took it easily, letting him lead her out onto the dance floor, which was already pretty packed full with a mix of actors and crew members.

“I can’t believe you know all the words to this song,” Allie laughed, even as she moved to the beat alongside him.

Dan just snarled at her to sing along with another line, “ _ Be my queen if you know what I mean, and let us do the wild thing.” _

Her head dipped back in a laugh as he made a show of grinding down to the floor at her feet, waving his body in the air like a flag.

“Tone-Loc is my jam,” Dan grinned, taking her hand and giving her a little twirl, before pulling her back into his chest and snaking an arm around her waist to move her hips along with the music.

“You’re getting handsy tonight,” Allie narrowed her eyes at him a little.

Dan just grinned down at her, his dark eyes flashing mischievously. Two seconds later, Gemma materialized right next to them on the dance floor with Lyla right on her heels. Without missing a step, Gemma raised her arms high over her head in greeting before Dan all but leapt into her arms. They embraced like old friends - or was it old lovers? - and then Dan took Gemma’s hands, lifting them in the air as they moved their hips to the music together.

Allie shifted her focus to Lyla, who was swiveling her shoulders on the dance floor next to her with a happy grin on her pretty face. She threw an arm around Lyla’s shoulders to greet her, grateful for the distraction from her pounding heart. If  _ they _ were here, then that could only mean one thing.

“You look amazing,” Allie leaned in to tell Lyla over the music. She gestured to Lyla’s form-fitting silver-sequined dress that fit snugly over her tiny baby bump. 

‘Thank you,” Lyla laughed in her ear. And then she looked Allie up and down with a grin. “You’re looking pretty hot tonight yourself.”

Allie glanced down at her dress, and shrugged, careful not to let too much heat flush to her cheeks, as difficult as that was. This time, she’d allowed Dan to select her outfit for this particular evening, having given up after about an hour of trying to decide. Dan had plucked a slinky black dress with spaghetti straps and a gentle sweetheart neckline from her closet, something she’d forgotten she even had. The last time she’d worn this dress was for a New Year’s Eve party at the studio a few years ago and hadn’t worn it since because the short hem and slim, tight fit wasn’t typically her style, at least not around the studio. Tonight, Dan had reasoned, she deserved to wear a skintight and  _ almost _ obscenely short dress.

“Thanks,” Allie grinned back at her.

Once it was clear Gemma and Lyla were too preoccupied with dancing to notice much else, Allie finally let her eyes drift around the room. She zeroed in on him almost instantaneously - well, the back of his slicked-back blonde head. Allie inhaled sharply at the sight of him, even if his back was to her. 

Her lips lifted in a tiny smile, wondering if maybe he was purposefully keeping his back to her while she was on the dance floor.

Now, Lyla had her by the hand, lifting it high in the air as they danced together to the music. From the corner of her eye, she saw her dad approach the group of Reaper cuts that had congregated near the dance floor. Jimmy reached out a hand to Jax with a twinkle in his dark eyes, and Allie’s mouth lifted at the corners again.

Jax didn’t hesitate, shaking her dad’s hand and then pulling him in for a bro-hug to clap him on the shoulder. Then he leaned in to murmur something in Jimmy’s ear. Her dad tilted his head closer to listen, with half a smile playing on his face. When Jimmy’s gaze drifted out to the dance floor and settled on her, he winked at her from over Jax’s shoulder. Allie just shook her head at Jimmy before lifting her eyes to the ceiling. Jax leaned away from Jimmy then, gesturing with his head toward the bar. The two men started moving toward the bar a moment later, and Allie followed their movements for as long, and as discreetly, as she could until she could only see the tops of their heads next to the bar. From what she could tell, Jax and her dad were huddled by the corner of the bar, with Jax’s head dipped low as he spoke to Jimmy.

Those butterflies were back, wreaking havoc on both her heart and her nerves tonight.

When the next song came on, she felt Gemma wrap an arm around her shoulders to pull her in tight against her side. 

“Hey, sweetheart,” Gemma grinned at her.

“Hi, Gemma,” Allie laughed, despite the new kind of nerves that flushed through her. “I’m glad you decided to come.”

“Me too!” she exclaimed happily, taking Allie by the hand so they could dance together a little bit. 

Okay, so that wasn’t nearly as awkward or as difficult as Allie had been mentally preparing herself for. Gemma seemed like she was in a great mood, laughing and dancing without a care in the world - and that was good for so many reasons. Gemma deserved to have some fun tonight the same way she deserved to wear a skin-tight,  _ almost _ obscenely short black dress.

The next few songs passed by in a blur, with their little group of four holding it down in the middle of the dance floor for a while. She was acutely aware that, wherever he was, Jax was watching - even if it was only for moments at a time, she could feel his eyes lingering every time like little pin pricks moving up and down her body.

And then Jimmy stood up on a chair, effectively cutting the music, and brought the microphone in his hand up to his mouth: “Hey, everyone - thanks for being here tonight. This is a very special night, as you all know, because tonight means that we’ve officially wrapped on our first film under this new partnership,” he paused, tipping the beer in his hand to the group of Reaper cuts hovering off the side, and they responded by lifting their beers high in the air and hollering through their excitement.

Allie had to stand up on her tiptoes a little to get a better look at the group, her eyes landing on the back of Jax’s slicked-back blonde head. He had his beer lifted high in the air as he clapped Opie on the shoulder with his free hand. And then she sucked in a harsh breath when Jax turned his head just enough to meet her gaze head-on.

His sharp blue eyes held hers for a moment, near-expressionless, but his lips lifted at the corners, forcing her to bite down on her bottom lip to keep a stupid grin from slipping across her face. Her entire body warmed at the attention, even if it had to be fleeting, and she felt a thrill shoot through her when the side of his lips curled up even more at the sight of her.

Then, Jax turned back to Jimmy when he started speaking again.

“This partnership has been more impactful and more fruitful than I could’ve anticipated,” Jimmy went on, and Allie shot her dad a wary glance from her spot among the crowd, “I suspect it will be for many years to come.”

From the corner of her eye, Allie saw Gemma step up beside her with her eyes locked on Jimmy ahead of them.

“And now, for the ladies of the hour, Lyla and Tina, the beautiful, talented, fuckin’ sexy stars of Sweet Productions’ latest soon-to-be released bestseller,” Jimmy paused again to allow for the whoops and applause for the stars of the evening, “Ladies and gentleman...I give you,  _ Boardroom Bitches 3: Full Disclosure _ !”

Jimmy stepped to the side as the movie’s poster was unveiled with thunderous applause shaking the entire building. Lyla and her scene partner were perched on twin desks in matching two-piece suits with their... _ assets  _ on full display, and their arms wrapped around each other in a passionate embrace. The storyline was something about a high-powered businesswoman (Lyla) who developed an unhealthy obsession with her rival at the company (Tina), that manifested itself in lots of girl-on-girl scenes in various boardrooms, offices, and storage rooms. Allie usually didn’t pay too much attention to the actual films themselves, beyond how their sales performed, since the creative end really wasn’t part of her job, but even she had to admit - that poster was hot, and pretty tastefully done too.

She turned to Lyla and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, “It looks amazing! That thing is gonna fly off the shelves!”

Lyla grinned brightly at her before dipping her head lower to murmur in her ear, “Don’t tell anyone, but this is it for me, Allie. I haven’t even told Ope yet, but...that’s it. I just wanna focus on writing now. Maybe move into directing, if everything goes well.”

“Lyla, that’s great,” Allie pulled her in for a tight hug. “Don’t worry about anything. We’ll get it all figured out.”

“Thank you,” Lyla murmured, her eyes glistening a little with unshed tears. “You have no idea how much your help has meant to me. I never would’ve been able to do this if I was still with Luann.”

“I know,” Allie smiled sadly, and then shook that off. This was much a cause for celebration as anything, even if they were the only ones who knew. She took Lyla’s hand and squeezed it, only letting go when Opie stepped out onto the dance floor to pull his wife into his arms.

Allie felt a hand brush her waist, momentarily freezing at the contact, and then just about fell out of her skin when she realized it was her dad, not someone else, who had his hand on her side. Jimmy grinned knowingly, and bent down to mutter lowly in her ear, “Just so you know, your boyfriend and I had a chat before.”

“Dad,” Allie glanced around anxiously, needing to make sure no one was paying attention or within earshot.

Jimmy’s grin just widened, and he wrapped an arm around her to pull her into a quick hug so he could whisper, “He wanted to make sure I understood where things stood between you two. And now I understand.”

He winked at her as he stepped back, and then his eyes flashed when he saw Gemma lingering a few feet away. Jimmy swept out a hand for her to shake, and she slipped her hand into his with a curious smile. Allie stepped in then, gesturing between the two of them.

“Dad,” Allie gestured to Gemma, “this is Gemma Teller-Morrow, Jax’s mom.”

“Pleasure,” Jimmy winked at her.

Allie pushed out a heavy sigh, and started to introduce her dad, “Gemma, this is -”

“Oh, I know who he is,” Gemma cut in with a sly smile, still shaking Jimmy’s hand. 

At this point, Allie figured it was best to excuse herself from the conversation, and she stepped away with an awkward wave. She moved through the crowd on the dance floor to find Dan again, her eyes searching around the gyrating bodies for his familiar, perfectly-coiffed dark hair. As her gaze drifted around the room, she found the back of Jax’s blonde head. So, he was still keeping his back to her, lingering a good 10 feet away from the dance floor with a beer in one hand, as he brought a cigarette to his lips with the other. That actually wasn’t a bad tactic. If he couldn’t see her, then he couldn’t look at her. Which, she had to admit, was a little disappointing. She hadn’t worn this dress for nothing tonight.

She found Dan a few moments later, joining him and a few of the other actors in the middle of the dance floor. Dan twirled her again before grinding down to the floor, almost as if he was aware they had an audience. So, Allie decided to keep her attention right on Jax’s back, waiting for it.

She didn’t have to wait long. Jax’s head turned, even though it was clear he was still saying something to Bobby, and her heart leapt into her throat as Jax’s eyes moved subtly around the room. He was looking for her, seeking her out in the crowd - it was too bad for him that she was too far off to the side to find her at that exact moment, but he was looking.

After a few more songs out on the dance floor, Allie was ready to take a break. Her stilettos were really starting to pinch her toes, and by now, Dan was too preoccupied with grinding up on one of his new scene partners to notice. Lyla had gotten pulled off the dance floor by Opie awhile ago now, and Gemma had just disappeared. Now seemed like as good a time as any to take that breather and get something to drink.

Allie weaved around the crowded floor to sidle up to the equally-packed bar, elbowing her way to a few free inches of bartop, and leaned onto the counter. She lifted a hand to try to get one of the bartender’s attention but got nothing. Allie huffed a little - and then soft fabric brushed against her bare arm.

Her heart disappeared into her throat, and those butterflies kicked into high gear, tightening and squeezing around her chest. She didn’t have to turn her head to know who was standing next to her, and her hands curled around the edges of the bar to keep herself from looking at him. When someone jostled her from the side, her hip flew right into Jax’s side, her bare shoulder knocking with his flannel-covered one. She inhaled shakily at the contact, burning from her head down to her toes at the way such a fleeting physical contact could set her aflame around him, and she stiffened when his fingertips brushed the side of her hip.

Her chest was rising and falling faster now, and she had to bite down on her bottom lip, fumbling for a little bit of control. His closeness was so all-consuming that she barely registered that the bartender was standing expectantly in front of them.

“I’ll take a Bud,” Jax’s low voice called out above the music, and then he glanced down at Allie with a sly grin playing on his lips. “And the lady will have a Diet Coke, right?”

Her lips lifted around the edges, feeling like everything around them had become a little hazier now. Jax’s blue eyes sparkled at her, glimmering with everything they couldn’t say, at least not here.

Allie smiled politely at the bartender and nodded, mainly just so he would leave them alone. From the corner of her eye, she watched Jax shift a hair to his left, putting a tiny bit of space between them, and he kept his eyes firmly on the bartop as he dug in the pocket inside his cut for his cigarettes. She watched with morbid fascination as he brought his lighter up to the cigarette between his lips, lit it quickly, and then puffed on it anxiously for the next few moments. He shifted so both elbows were resting on the bartop, careful to keep the nearby ashtray within reach.

They were so close...his elbow was just a few inches away from hers, and the distance between them physically hurt. Everything burned a little more than it had before with the knowledge that he was so close, but still so out of reach. Judging by the tension rolling off his shoulders, she guessed he felt the same.

And then he dipped his head down so he could murmur lowly, “Question, Attorney Levy.”

Those butterflies threatened to lift her right off her stiletto heels, but somehow, she found her voice again.

“What’s that?”

His head tilted toward her a little more, but he kept his eyes on the bartop as he spoke, “Are you  _ trying _ to kill me tonight? Because if you are, you should know I’m sufferin’ a slow and painful death.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Then he tore his eyes away from the countertop to cock a wary eyebrow at her, letting his eyes drop down to the exposed skin on her thighs for a moment before slicing them back to the counter. “Sure you don’t.”

She just lifted a shoulder, smiling at the bartender when he set their drinks down in front of them. “I’m having a good time tonight.”

“I can see that.”

And then, all caution flew out the window. While she’d not-so-subtly hinted she wanted him to come over to her house later when they’d been at dinner last night, that suddenly seemed like far too long to wait. There was a way they could make this work tonight so that they could have a moment, or two, alone without anyone else being the wiser.

“You know,” she leaned in just enough to brush her bare arm against his shoulder again. She nearly took off running right then when he dipped his head lower to hear her better. “I just remembered I left this very important thing in my office.”

His lips curled into a sexy smirk and he nodded slowly. “I see.”

“And, well, the thing is, I’m not sure I’ll be able to find it without your help. It’s very important, Jax.”

“Well,” his eyebrows quirked into his forehead. “We can’t have that. I think we need to go find this very important thing in your office then.”

“I think I should go ahead and start looking for it first,” Allie told him, unable to hide her smile now. “And maybe in, I don’t know, 10 minutes or so, you could come help me?”

His eyes slammed into hers, and the heat she found there had her knees quaking right where she stood. She sucked in a shaky breath, muttering, “Maybe five minutes.”

Jax’s mouth twisted into a playful smirk and then he quickly rubbed a hand over his mouth to mask his reaction from view. “Five minutes then.”

“And,” she leaned in a little more, empowered by the way he stiffened at her closeness, “it’s imperative that, while we look for this very important thing, we do it with all our clothes  _ on.” _

He caught her meaning almost immediately, huffing out a light laugh before catching his bottom lip underneath his teeth. “A’ight. I’ll be at your service in five minutes, darlin’.”

Allie let herself lock eyes with him one more time, just long enough to shoot him a small smile and see his lips lift at the corners again, and then she backed away from the bar with her soda in hand. It took nearly all the willpower she had left not to glance over her shoulder as she left him standing at the bar, and weaved in and out around the crowd again to make her way toward the hallway.

She left her drink on a nearby table as she stepped onto the hallway, her heels clicking softly on the tile floor as she passed a few of the actors and crew members with their arms wrapped around each other, probably headed to one of the nearby dressing rooms for a hook-up. Allie chewed on her bottom lip anxiously as she closed the distance to her office. In the past, she’d always looked the other way when people at these parties disappeared suspiciously, and now, here she was, with the tell-tale click of her heels bouncing off the walls, disappearing suspiciously into a dark room.

And, with a smile, she knew there was absolutely no shame in that.

Just as she reached out to turn the handle on her office’s door, warm hands skimmed around her hips and pulled her against a familiar leather-covered chest. She leaned back for a moment, momentarily distracted from the task at hand, and then she remembered:

“I said five minutes, Jax,” she laughed breathlessly. “Not 30 seconds.”

“Couldn’t wait,” he murmured in her ear and then pressed his lips into her neck. “You were walkin’ away, so I followed.”

She barely got the door open before he shoved it shut behind them, whirling her around and pinning her against the door. Their mouths crashed into each other as his fingers slipped up her thighs to prop her up against the door so she could hook both legs around his waist. When his tongue slipped inside her parted mouth, she sighed against his lips and shivered when his fingertips skimmed underneath her tight dress. His calloused fingertips splayed around her ass, jerking her hips away from the door so he could grind himself between her legs, groaning into her mouth. Then he slipped a hand around, letting it travel alongside her hip until his index finger dipped dangerously inside her panties.

Allie pressed her head against the door, sighing at the sweet torture, and spurring him on to brush his fingertip against the slick skin he found inside her panties.

“Fuck,” he muttered hoarsely against her lips. “You always this wet?”

“Just for you,” she whispered.

His eyes darkened, his jaw clenching as he pressed two fingertips against her skin, moving them up and down and sending her flying to new heights.

“Is this okay?” he murmured.

Allie laughed against his lips, acutely aware that he’d slowed his movements between her legs and she needed him to go faster  _ now. _

“I love how you ask me if this is okay  _ after  _ you’re already doing it.”

“Shit,” he muttered.

Jax swallowed hard, and he pushed out a rough breath against her neck. Then he tore away to meet her in the eye, his blue eyes pinning her with a little bit of desperation. “I don’t wanna fuck this up, Allie. And I don’t wanna do anything you don’t want me to do.”

She lifted a hand to his cheek, running her thumb over his skin, and leaned in to press a kiss into his lips. “You’re not fucking this up. And I’ll tell you if you’re doing something I don’t want you to do.”

His lips curled with a new sensuality that hadn’t quite been there before, and his eyes were hooded with desire and pent-up frustration, like he had an itch that needed to be scratched and the only way to scratch it was to pin her against this door until her eyes rolled back in her head.

“What do you want me to do then, Allie?” he asked her hoarsely, his eyes darkening dangerously.

She didn’t hesitate. “I want you to make me come.”

Jax’s chest heaved at her words and his lips parted, like he wanted to respond but flailed around for the words first. His nostrils flared as his fingertips pressed into her again. On reflex, she wrapped her arms around his neck, ready to cling to him for dear life as he picked up the pace, his ministrations becoming more focused and intense. He knew exactly what he was doing - knew just how fast to go, how much pressure to apply, and when to up his speed.

Her head fell back against the door as he swept her away into the waves. It was the best kind of falling, this black hole that she never wanted to crawl out of. Could they just stay here like this forever with her legs wrapped around his waist, pressed into the door, and his hands up her dress?

His warm breath kissed her neck, and then he murmured in a tight voice, “You’ll come when I say you can come.”

Jax pulled his head back so he could look her square in the eye, new determination and fascination clouding his blue eyes as he watched her take what he was giving her. She couldn’t look away from him if she tried.

And then, he slipped a finger inside her, his eyes flashing when her lips parted in ecstasy. He only needed to pump inside her twice before she was right there, on the brink of tumbling over the edge.

His mouth curved in anticipation, and then, with his eyes still locked on her face, he leaned in to murmur against her lips, “Come for me, baby.”

Her whole body stiffened as the orgasm ripped through her, rolling down to her toes, arching her back off the door, jerking her hips against his waist. That was it. She’d never get enough of this. Would never be able to go a day without having this, without having him tucked in between her legs, pressing against her, filling her anyway he wanted to.

“That was the most beautiful fucking thing I’ve ever seen,” Jax breathed against her lips. His mouth curled around her, drinking her in, consuming her, and then she dropped her hands to his belt buckle, letting one of her legs slip to the floor to get her balance again.

Just as she unbuckled his belt, undid the button on his jeans, and reached for his fly, he called out hoarsely, “Allie, you don’t have to. I can wait.”

Her eyes flicked up, grinning at the quiet suffering written on his face. He was in literal pain right now, and she knew exactly what would make him feel better.

“Maybe I wanna know what your cock feels like in my hand,” she whispered as a surge of power rippled through her when his eyes widened at her words. “Is that okay?”

Jax recovered quickly, huffing out the laugh that rumbled in his chest, and his mouth twisted. “Thank you for asking me  _ before _ you were already doing it.”

Allie grinned brightly. “You’re welcome. Now, what do you want me to do, Jax?”

He leaned in so he could seal his mouth around hers and whisper, “I want you to make me come.”

She didn’t hesitate, unzipping his fly, and reaching inside his boxers to wrap her hand around the hard length she found inside. But that wasn’t enough. She wanted to  _ see  _ it too, and felt a sort of desperate need to pull it all the way from inside his boxers so she could really see what she was working with. And when she unearthed it from underneath his clothes, it really shouldn’t have been surprising that this big, beautiful man also had a big, beautiful dick. But the sight of it just about stopped her in her tracks - it was bigger, and thicker, than what she was used to, and for a fleeting moment, she worried that he might never be able to fit inside her.

“You gonna stare at it all night,” Jax smirked down at her, “or you gonna do somethin’ with it?”

Allie huffed out a laugh, gripping her hand around him more tightly just to see his nostrils flare. “I was just thinking this thing might rip me in half sometime soon.”

Jax’s thumb brushed across her cheek and his breath warmed her lips. “No worries, darlin’. I’ll make sure you’re good and ready when we get that far.”

That was all she needed to hear to get her head back in the game, and she palmed him more tightly, stroking up and down around his soft skin, feeling a rush of adrenaline when their eyes locked. Jax’s eyes never left hers, his mouth parting and his chest heaving against his leather cut as her movements quickened and tightened up and all the way down to the base of him, then back up again until he squeezed his eyes shut.

“You’ll come when I say you can come,” she whispered.

His eyes flew open at the sound of her voice, and she had to marvel at the experience of watching Jax Teller fall apart in the palm of her hand. So, she decided to put him out of his misery, and gave him permission to let go when she murmured, “Come for me, Jax.”

His forehead dropped to her shoulder, and his entire body tensed around her until his warm release filled her hand. With his chest still heaving, he pressed his face into her neck, pressing his hands around her head against the door as he came back to himself a little more. He shifted so he could rest his forehead against hers, leaning in to find her lips and cover them with his mouth.

Then, he tore himself away, winking at her as he tucked himself back inside his boxers, zipped his fly, and buckled his belt again. His eyes dropped to her hands, and he held up a finger, backpedalling through her office to search through the mess on her desk before opening a few drawers.

By now, she followed him to her desk and called out, “There’s some kleenex in the bottom drawer.”

He grinned back at her, making quick work of opening the drawer and tossing her the kleenex box as she hopped up on her desk. After she’d cleaned herself up and gotten rid of the evidence, he moved around the side of her desk to stand in between her legs again, leaning in to put both hands around her face so he could kiss her deeply.

“It’s a good thing we were able to find that very important thing in here,” Jax hummed against her lips.

“I know. I was so worried we wouldn’t find it.”

He chuckled, brushing his lips against hers again. “Maybe we should do another check. You know, just to be thorough about it.”

With that, he gently shoved her shoulders backward until her back hit the surface of her desk. Before she could protest, he leaned down and swung one of her legs over his shoulder, sliding her dress over her hips, and dipping his head lower and lower until he pressed his mouth against her panties.

“You think you’re up for it?”

A laugh burst from her throat, and she tore a hand through her already tangled hair, unable to believe this was happening to her right now. “With you?”

Then he lifted his head to glance up at her with a smirk. “Who else? We’ve already established that we don’t share, darlin’.”

Allie’s lips parted, her breath coming in and out in short bursts until she found her voice again. “With you, Jax...I think I could come all night.”

Jax stared back at her, his eyes glazing over into heated sapphire pools. Then he took a few measured breaths before he spoke again.

“I know we should probably get back to the party,” he told her, his eyes pinning her into the desk, “but I’d really like to test that theory. I have a feeling I’ll be pretty successful from this vantage point.”

Allie squeezed her eyes shut when he dipped his head between her legs again, this time to press his nose against her underwear and inhaling deeply.

“So fucking sweet,” he muttered under his breath, only to kiss her over the thin fabric separating his lips from her bare skin.

It would be so easy to just lie back and let him have his way with her. She was desperate for it right about now, desperate to know what  _ this  _ was going to feel like, desperate to let him pull her panties down and press his hot mouth against her. But, somewhere through this fog, she knew they’d probably been gone way too long already, and if they’d already taken a risk by being gone  _ this  _ long - although she couldn’t quite be sure how long it really was because time had seemed to stand still the moment Jax closed the door behind them - then they should probably call it before someone came looking for them.

“I can’t believe I’m gonna say this,” she told him breathlessly, “but I think we should get back to the party before it’s too late.”

He sighed heavily, dropped one more kiss over her panties, and then gently tugged her dress back down her hips so he could pull her off the desk. They kissed one more time before going their separate ways for the time being - Jax headed back down the hallway, and Allie went the opposite way so she could step inside the bathroom for a few moments to both clean herself up a little and to stall so that Jax had some time to blend back into the party before she showed up again.

By the time her heels clicked down the hallway again, she’d let a little less than 10 minutes pass before going back out onto the dance floor to find Dan, who was grinding away with the same guy he’d been with when she’d left him.

From the corner of her eye, she easily found Jax again, who’d rejoined the group of Reaper cuts off to the side with his back to the dance floor and his lips wrapped around a cigarette. Which gave her a little thrill, considering she knew exactly where those lips had just been less than 10 minutes ago. Seeing as how both Gemma and her dad were standing right at Jax’s shoulder, she pulled her gaze away, not necessarily needing either of them to catch her looking.

Dan grabbed her hand then and pulled her closer to him, spinning her around, so he could mutter, “Where the hell have  _ you  _ been?”

‘The bathroom?”

He cocked an eyebrow at her even as his hands moved to her hips to give them a little shake to the beat. “For a half an hour?”

“I don’t think it was  _ that  _ long.”

“Hmm, I think it was,” Dan’s eyes flashed as he leaned in. “I noticed your boyfriend was gone for a similar length of time, although he popped up again not that long ago. You  _ got  _ some, didn’t you?”

Allie didn’t really know how to respond, so she just didn’t. Apparently, that was all the confirmation Dan needed, and his mouth twisted into a sly grin.

“Uh huh. And did he get some too?”

This time, Allie let her eyes flick to Dan pointedly, giving him his answer. A slow, shit-eating grin spread across his face and he pulled her into his arms, picking her off the floor to swing her around a little.

“It’s about fucking time. I’m so proud and so jealous at the same time...I can’t  _ even _ right now.”

His eyes darted to something over her head, and then he leaned down to whisper conspiratorially, “Don’t look, but your boyfriend’s looking over here right now. Just act cool, or, as cool as you can be. I know it’s hard for you, Alexandra, considering what you were just up to.”

Against her better judgment, Allie turned her head, finding Jax again through the crowd. This time, his head was turned just enough to meet her in the eye. He winked at her, and then turned back to listen to whatever story Jimmy was telling the group.

“Ooo,” Dan practically purred in her ear. “I saw that. You know, I think I really like this let’s-keep-it-a-secret thing. This is good. And super fun to watch.”

Allie just shook her head at him and took him by the hand to turn his attention back to the music and the dancing she needed to distract herself from everything that had just gone down in her office. If she thought about it too much, she might find herself grabbing Jax by the back of his leather cut and dragging him back there so he could test her theory about him once and for all.

And, when Dan spun her around again on the dance floor, the entire room exploded in a cacophony of breaking glass and loud pops of gunshots. Screams mingled with more pops, as Allie yanked Dan lower so they could duck to the floor. With another round of gunshots piercing through the air, coupled with screams of terror, she looked up in a panic to see Jax charging right for her from across the room.

“Get down!” he shouted, waving his arm frantically to signal for her to drop to the ground.

Jax ducked again when another round of bullets ripped through the room, but he didn’t stop moving until he grabbed her by the shoulders, pushed her flush with the dance floor, and covered her body with his. She shrieked a little when more gunshots rang out. Jax moved his hands around her head protectively, pressing himself closer against her into the floor.

“You okay?” he asked frantically.

All she could do was nod, and then turned her head to find him. “Are you okay?”

“Don’t worry about me,” he barked back, tilting his head up so he could scan the room. She could see him doing a quick inventory of the damage, of any injuries, and she followed his movements, seeing that Opie had his body protectively over the top of Lyla across the floor, and that Gemma was tucked securely underneath Jimmy. Then she turned her head again to make sure Dan was still okay on the other side of her, pushing out a breath of relief when she saw that he was in one piece next to her.

After waiting what seemed like an eternity, Jax finally pushed himself off her. When he was standing, he reached down to pull her off the floor, and then shifted on his heel to help pull Dan back up to his feet too.

Jax put a hand on both of their shoulders, checking them over before pushing out: “You okay?”

And then she saw that the flannel on his bicep was torn, with some red soaking through the fabric. She reached out frantically to grip his arm so she could get a better look. 

“Jax, your arm!”

He glanced down at the tear in his shirt distractedly and then just shrugged. “It’s fine. It’s just a graze.”

Now, he slipped back into work mode, waving the other club members to gather at the studio’s exit. He turned on his heel to point a finger at her and order, “Stay here. Don’t move.”

She watched him jog over to where the other Reaper cuts were congregating, with Jimmy joining in the huddle. Then she turned to Dan, found him covering his face with both hands, and pulled him into her arms. He dipped his head onto her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding onto her for dear life. Allie jumped a little when she felt another pair of arms around her, turning to see Gemma’s stricken face as she wrapped both Allie and Dan in her arms. Lyla appeared next to them a moment later with tears streaming down her face, and Gemma made room so she could envelope all three of them in her arms.

“Everybody’s okay?” Gemma’s voice called out as she looked each of them over in her arms, touching their faces and their shoulders to make sure everyone was in one piece.

“Are you okay, Gemma?” Allie asked with a little laugh, in spite of everything.

Gemma just huffed out a laugh. “I’m fine, sweetheart.”

They waited as the club did their due diligence, sending a few of the members outside to survey the damage and make sure nothing and no one was in the parking lot that would be a danger. Once that was taken care of, Jax, Opie, and Jimmy made their way back over to their little group. Jax put a hand on his mother’s shoulder and then she pulled him into a hug, holding him even tighter when she realized he had blood on his arm.

“It’s just a scratch, Ma,” he told her when she started to fuss. “I’m fine.”

Jax shifted his focus away from his mother so he could address the rest of their group. “We’re gonna get everyone to the clubhouse. Make sure everyone’s accounted for and okay. None of us should be stickin’ around here for much longer, just in case.”

After that, it was sort of a free-for-all. Opie grabbed Lyla by the hand to pull her toward the parking lot, Jimmy and Gemma took off for the exit as Dan grumbled about driving himself home. Somewhere between all of that, Jax took her by the hand and gestured with his head for her to follow him to the parking lot. He kept her hand in a firm vise grip, like he was terrified to let her go, and when they got to where his bike was parked in the parking lot, there was no hesitation.

While she was acutely aware that everyone who’d been inside the party was now in the parking lot, and that Opie and Lyla, and Gemma and her dad were somewhere around her, she snatched the helmet out of Jax’s outstretched hand and snapped it on over her head. Then she let Jax grip her by the hips to lift her onto his bike, settling her against the leather seat. Jax swung his leg over the side of his bike a moment later, pulling his gloves on, and then revving the engine to life.

Allie wrapped her arms around his waist, not even caring that her dress was rolling up around her hips as she tucked herself against Jax’s leather-covered back and held on as tightly as she could. She wished she could say she enjoyed her first ride on the back of Jax’s bike, but with the speed he used to barrel down the streets to get them to the clubhouse, and the way the night air nipped around her exposed skin, she found herself shivering against his back, more from adrenaline and the cold, than anything else.

By the time Jax pulled into T-M’s parking lot, which was already filled to the brim, her teeth were chattering and her skin chafed red from the wind. He sprung into action the second he shut off his bike, swinging his leg around the side, and holding out a hand to help her off the back. The second her stilettos hit the pavement, his arms were around her, pulling her in close to his chest as his hands rubbed up and down her arms to warm her up a little.

“I’m sorry, Allie,” he grimaced down at her. “I know, I know...there was just no other way.”

“It’s okay,” she tried to smile but her teeth were chattering too much to really allow for it.

He nodded tightly, keeping his arms around her for warmth as he shuffled her through the parking lot as quickly as her stilettos would let him get her inside the clubhouse. When he pushed them through the clubhouse’s double doors, he immediately started barking out orders to the prospects who were scrambling around the makeshift triage area on the clubhouse’s main floor.

“Prospect! Get some blankets - move your ass!”

He gently pushed Allie toward Lyla, who was standing near the bar with a blanket around her shoulders. Lyla’s eyes widened when she saw Allie, and immediately held her arms out to envelop Allie in the blanket. Allie laughed a little, settling into the blanket as she wrapped her arms around Lyla’s small frame so she could wrap the blanket around her shoulders. Jax grinned at the sight, not hesitating to wrap his arms around both of their shoulders to pull them both into his chest.

Then he glanced down at Lyla, “You alright? You need Chibs to check you over?”

She just shook her head with a small smile. “I’m okay, Jax.”

He nodded tightly, before putting a hand in her hair and pressing a quick kiss into Lyla’s temples. Then he shifted his focus back to Allie with a tight smile on his face.

“You two stay here,” he told them firmly, before tearing his focus away to scan the room. “You seen my mom anywhere?”

“No,” Allie frowned, standing up on her tiptoes a little to get a better look around the clubhouse. It was just too crowded right now to really find anyone. “I think I saw her leaving the studio with my dad though.”

Her eyes widened as soon as those words dropped from her mouth, and Jax’s eyebrows quirked into a frown too before he just shook his head. Clearly, he needed to move on if Gemma was accounted for somewhere. He nodded to them one more time before starting his rounds, checking in with everyone who was crowding inside his clubhouse from the studio. Chibs, too, moved from person to person with Juice and Bobby right on his heels, as they took inventory of the injuries around them, starting with the more serious ones first. And there were at least two that she could see who most definitely had bullet wounds.

By now, a prospect stepped up to her to offer a big black Samcro sweatshirt and she took it gratefully, sliding it over her head and wrapping herself around the extra warmth. Within a few minutes, more of the feeling returned in her fingers and her toes, and she started to feel a little more like herself again. 

As she watched the prospects moving around the room, offering blankets and sweatshirts, she leaned into Lyla to ask, “Do you think we should help them?”

Lyla’s eyes darted around the room, and then she nodded immediately.

“I’m thinking coffee, some water, beer for whoever needs it,” Allie suggested as she wrapped her arms around herself for warmth. “They have to have some food around here somewhere, right? I think if people just get something in their hands, some of the shock will wear off.” 

“On it,” Lyla grinned and then they separated, Allie in that baggy sweatshirt she was swimming in and Lyla wrapping the blanket even tighter around herself. 

Luckily enough, one of the prospects already had the same idea, and he had a pot of coffee going in the kitchen. By the time Allie found her way to the kitchen, she grabbed as many cups as she could fit in her hand and took the coffee carafe from the prospect, giving him quick instructions to get as many pots going as he could, and then she stepped back out onto the clubhouse’s main floor. She smiled a little to herself when she saw Lyla passing out bottles of water with the prospects, a few people already had beers in their hands, which was good. That was one step closer to getting behind all this.

Allie made her way over to one of the tables, setting the coffee cups down so she could put a hand on one of the crew member’s shoulders, “Hey, Nate. You okay? Need some coffee?”

He nodded gratefully as she poured him a cup, her hands still trembling a little from the cold. Then she moved onto the next crew member huddled around the table and poured him a cup of coffee too and then carried on to the next table.

From the corner of her eye, she could see the Reaper cuts huddled near the bar, their heads all dipped low as they talked through everything that had just happened. Jax turned his head, looking right at the spot where he’d left Allie and Lyla, his forehead creased into a deep frown when he realized they were gone. He quickly scanned the room, finding Lyla on the other side of the room with bottles of water in her hand as she passed them out to those who reached for them. Jax continued his search, seeking her out again, and this time, it seemed like he didn’t care about being discreet anymore, that he didn’t really give a shit who was watching or wasn’t watching.

And when he finally found her, balancing three coffee mugs underneath one arm and a half-empty pot of coffee in the other, his blue eyes softened and his mouth quirked up into a small smile as his gaze trailed to the giant sweatshirt she was wearing that had to make her look like a 12-year-old wearing her dad’s clothes.

Jax pushed off the bar, moving around the tables and the crowd of people inside his clubhouse, until he was standing two feet away from her, watching with sparkling eyes as she poured someone a cup of coffee.

He tipped his chin to her with a grin and shoved his hands deep in his pockets. “You seen your dad anywhere? We’re ready to bring you guys into all this now.”

Allie frowned, setting the coffee pot down on the table as her eyes scanned the room for Jimmy. She momentarily lost focus when he stepped a little closer, dipping his head lower so he could move his lips to her ear.

“In case I don’t get a chance to tell you later,” he murmured. “I’m gonna have a prospect drive you home after we’re done talking some things through. I gotta hang around here for a while to keep an eye on things, but I’ll be over as soon as I can, a’ight?”

She bit down on her bottom lip to hide her smile, allowing herself to send him a tight nod in response. Then she gripped the coffee pot with one hand to offer it up to him, “Coffee, Jax?”

His lips quirked, and his eyes studied her carefully for a moment before he spoke again, “Sure, darlin’.”

Allie made quick work of pouring him a cup and handing it to him. He had his ringed hand wrapped around the mug when a prospect materialized beside him.

“Prez, I -”

“Little busy right now, prospect,” Jax dismissed him as he brought the mug up to his mouth with his eyes still locked firmly on Allie.

The prospect dragged an anxious hand through his curly hair, swallowing hard before trying again. “Prez, I found Mrs. T-M.”

That got Jax’s attention, and he dipped his head lower to hear what the prospect was telling him in his ear. At first, his forehead creased into a frown, like he wasn’t quite sure what he was hearing. Then his eyes widened a little as the prospect cut a hand anxiously through the air to explain whatever it was he needed to explain.

“You sure?” Jax pushed out roughly, and when the prospect just nodded a little shakily, Jax’s wide eyes flew to collide with Allie in disbelief.

Some movement from over Jax’s shoulder caught her eye, and she tilted her head to glance around where Jax and the prospect stood to see Gemma push through the clubhouse’s double doors, running a hand through her mussed hair as she ventured deeper inside. Allie’s eyes widened a little when Gemma adjusted the vest she was wearing, and then her mouth dropped open completely when her dad pushed through the doors behind her.

“Holy mother of shit,” Allie exhaled.

Jax’s head whipped around, and she saw the moment Jax realized what, or who, she had been staring at. His shoulders tensed, and he seemed to freeze right where he stood, clutching his coffee mug with white knuckles. The prospect quickly realized his presence was no longer necessary, and he quietly stepped away just as Jax shifted his shoulders back to face her.

“So, apparently my dad has zero boundaries,” Allie muttered under her breath.

“No shit,” Jax huffed out a laugh. He shook his head as he brought his mug back up to his lips, then he dipped his head lower to inform her, “The prospect caught them in T-M’s office with their pants down. Literally.”

Allie’s eyes widened, her lips parting in disbelief, but what could she say? There were so many ways this was just...maybe the most shocking thing her dad had ever done. Sure, he’d been a porn star in another life and knew his way around sex, but this? With Gemma? When he was well aware that her and Jax’s relationship status had literally just changed days before?  _ Literally  _ days before.

“I can’t believe this,” she exhaled exasperatedly. “He’s lost his ever-loving mind.”

“Well,” Jax grinned good-naturedly and lifted his shoulder, casting a quick glance over his shoulder to see Gemma headed straight for them. “Considering they’re not the only ones who snuck away to run the bases tonight, I’m not sure you have a leg to stand on here, darlin’.”

Allie lifted her elbow onto the table so she could press her hand over her mouth to hide her reaction. Her eyes flicked to him slyly but she just shook her head. Jax shifted then to put some more space between them, acutely aware that his mother was directly behind him.

“There you are, Jax,” Gemma called out to him a little breathlessly and put a hand on his shoulder as she stood next to him.

Jax quirked an eyebrow at his mother, bringing his coffee mug to his mouth with a grin playing on his lips. Gemma made the connection instantly, hitching both hands on her hips, her dark eyes darting between them in exasperation before rolling her eyes to the ceiling.

“That fuckin’ prospect,” Gemma muttered under her breath. Now her eyes drifted around the room to search the poor kid out. “I’m gonna kill him the next time I see him. I told him to keep his damn mouth shut.”

Jax’s mouth spread apart in a playful grimace as he shrugged his shoulders at her. “Come on, Ma. You know that prospect was never gonna keep that from me - I sent him to look for ya because I was worried about you. I guess I didn’t need to be worried.”

Gemma blew an exasperated sigh, glancing between the two of them before lifting her eyebrows expectantly. “What? I haven’t gotten laid in almost ten months. So sue me, okay? Besides,  _ you _ ,” she jabbed Jax in the shoulder as she spoke, “were the one who said I should have some fun tonight. And, guess what, Jackson? I  _ did _ .”

Jax lifted both hands in defense, coffee cup and all, and huffed out a laugh, his eyes darting to Allie with amusement. “A’ight. A’ight. Glad you had some fun, Ma.”

Gemma narrowed her dark eyes at him, grabbing him by the chin, and swinging an arm around Allie’s shoulders to bring them in closer. “Don’t get me started on you two. If either of you think you’ve got me fooled...let’s just say,” she grinned a little diabolically at her son, “your eyes just about fell out of your head the second you saw this one,” she gestured toward Allie, “in that dress, on the dance floor tonight. You were sunk before you even started.”

Jax, to his credit, played it cool - despite the fact that Allie’s face was on fire - and he brought his coffee mug back up to his lips as expressionless as possible. Then he shot Gemma an easy grin, “Don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, Ma. The relationship between me and my lawyer is strictly professional.”

Gemma eyed him for a moment with narrowed eyes before squeezing Allie’s shoulder and clapping her other hand to Jax’s cheek to give it a little shake. “Alright. Have it your way.”

Then she turned on her heel and slinked away, weaving around the tables and packed room until she disappeared among the crowd.

Jax leaned down to murmur to her, “That doesn’t bode well for keeping this quiet too much longer, does it?”

Allie could only lift her eyebrows at him. She’d lost her ability to speak a long time ago. Jax slyly held out his coffee mug to her, gesturing for her to top him off, and she obliged him with narrowed eyes. He winked at her, and then gestured with his head for her to follow him toward the bar.

“Come on, we’ve got some business to take care of.”

* * *

Jax glanced over his shoulder long enough to make sure Allie was following him, and then he sauntered through the clubhouse’s double doors to head into the parking lot, careful to position himself so that Jimmy and Opie were standing between them. Gemma’s not-so-subtle warning rang in his ears, and he immediately busied himself with his coffee, rather than risk giving away any more than he obviously had tonight.

Not like he’d meant to, but Gemma had been right. The second he saw Allie dancing in the middle of the dance floor, with that black dress hugging her tight curves...well, Gemma had been wrong actually. His eyes hadn’t fallen out of his head. They’d rolled  _ back  _ in his head.

And, as they waited for Chibs and Juice to join them out in the parking lot, Jax allowed himself one more look, smirking at the sight of her in that massive black sweatshirt that hit her right below the knees. She was drowning in the thing, and her dark eyes narrowed at him as if she could read his mind.

His lips pulled to the side in amusement, prompting him to bring his coffee mug back to his mouth to hide his reaction.

Given the way their date had progressed last night, he hadn’t exactly expected her to be  _ shy _ , at least not when he finally got his hands inside her panties. But he had not anticipated how responsive she’d be, how direct, how blunt. And the dirty talk...he still couldn’t quite wrap his head around  _ that  _ particular surprise.

She was a handful, in more ways than one, and she definitely gave as good as she got. And somewhere in between her all but ordering him to make her come, and staring at his dick like it made her mouth water, the spark between them fanned out into a full-fledged wildfire.

Now that Chibs and Juice had joined their little pow wow in the parking lot, Jax brought his coffee mug up to his lips one more time to give himself a moment before jumping into business. And now that the whole party was here, everyone standing around in this circle - the club, and Allie and Jimmy included - looked to him for direction.

“Alright,” he pushed out a heavy sigh, his lips lifting a little when all attention shifted to him. “I think it goes without saying that we got lucky tonight. As far as we can tell, two people got hit, but Chibs was able to patch them up. Everything else was just pure luck. I know there’s a whole mess at the studio that needs cleaning up, but we’ll work through that tomorrow.”

Jax paused there, letting a round of nods pass around the group before he pushed on.

“We know who this was, and we know what he’s after,” then he tipped his chin to Jimmy, who quirked an eyebrow at him. “Caruso wants us to escalate this, but we’re not gonna give him what he wants. I think we can do him one better.”

He’d never been more grateful that, immediately after the shooting, and as the dust began to settle, the club had been unanimous without needing to take it to the table and without needing to push a vote. They all understood what he’d already known - if they really wanted to take this new path seriously, if they really wanted to change, then they couldn’t approach this the same way they would’ve before. They couldn’t answer violence with violence. Not this time. If they did, they really would be leaving more bodies in their wake, whether they were directly responsible or not.

Caruso had made it clear tonight that he was ready to go to war and roll out the heavy artillery, collateral damage be damned.

The club was going to beat him at his own game. His idea had been out of the box. But then again, he thought as his eyes drifted to Allie, he’d been learning from the best.

Jax tipped his chin to Jimmy again. “You think you can pull the security footage from the parking lot tonight?”

Jimmy’s eyebrows lifted into his forehead, but he nodded immediately. “Sure. I can do that first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Good,” Jax nodded to him. He was  _ not  _ going to think about what Jimmy had just been doing with his mother in T-M’s office about 10 minutes ago. Considering what he’d been doing with Jimmy’s daughter a little over an hour ago, he figured they were square.

Then he schooled his expression, and let his eyes settle on Allie. “And we need  _ you  _ to do some digging. Work your magic. Anything you can shake down about how Caruso runs his business, any documentation you can find, we need it as soon as you can get it to us.”

Allie frowned back at him, and he could see that smart brain working overtime as she worked through everything he’d just asked of her. Then she nodded to him with a small smile.

“What are you guys gonna do?” Jimmy was asking now.

Jax flashed him a grin. “The last time we saw Caruso, I told him we’d burn his studio to the ground if he tried anything again. I’m a man of my word, and I think Caruso is countin’ on that,” his eyes flicked to Allie again, “you told me once that Caruso was as shitty a boss as he was a businessman. So, we’re gonna burn his studio to the ground. Just not the way he’s expecting.”

Jimmy rubbed his chin in thought, his eyes drifting down to the pavement before lifting his gaze back up to Jax with some new appreciation spreading across his face.

“Alright,” Jimmy nodded. “I’ll defer to you on this. We trust you,” and then Jimmy’s gaze flicked to his daughter, “don’t we, Allie?”

Jax’s head turned to find her, schooling his expression into a cool, impassive one when their eyes met. His chest might’ve squeezed more than a few times when Allie’s dark eyes flicked to him, and her mouth turned up just enough to make his chest heave a little bit.

But this was not the time or the place to advertise to the entire club that the feelings he had for their lawyer went beyond the professional.

Besides, he needed to get Allie on board with a few things first before he could do that.

“We do,” Allie nodded with a smile.

Then he jumped right back to it. “Alright. It’s been a long fucking night. We still have some shit to take care of here at the clubhouse before we can all go pass out somewhere, and then we’ll touch base tomorrow.”

There really wasn’t much left to say, and he watched, feeling more than a little anxious, as Jimmy put an arm around his daughter to lead her through the parking lot, presumably to take her home.

Well, at least it looked like Jimmy wasn’t planning to take his mother home tonight too. Thank God for small favors - at least at this point.

Allie glanced over her shoulder just long enough to catch his gaze, and she smiled at him briefly before turning back to continue walking with her dad toward his car. Jax watched her slide into the passenger seat of Jimmy’s car, and shook his head. Jesus, the guy had driven his mother over here in a fucking Maserati. He didn’t let his thoughts linger too long on how long it must’ve taken, or  _ not  _ taken, for Gemma to pull Jimmy into T-M’s office and start taking off her clothes.

He shuddered a little at the thought, grimacing as he took another sip from his coffee mug before turning on his heel to head back inside the clubhouse only to stop right in his tracks.

His vice president stood in front of him, his hands casually pushed inside his front pockets, and a good-natured grin on his face. But that hard glint in Opie’s eyes? 

Yeah, that wasn’t good.

“Hey, prez,” Opie threw out lightly, rocking back on his heels as he spoke. “You got a minute?”

Jax swallowed hard, and pressed a grin to his face. “Sure, Ope. What’s up?”

Opie’s eyes narrowed just a touch, and then gestured with his head for Jax to follow him deeper into the parking lot, away from the clubhouse, and away from the people, and the witnesses, inside of it. Jax could only follow his lead, trailing after him and clutching that coffee mug like his life depended on it with a sweaty palm. 

He’d gotten lucky with Jimmy tonight. When he’d pulled Jimmy aside at the party earlier, and set him straight about what, exactly, was going on between him and his daughter, Jimmy had been genuinely accepting, if not even more than a little cordial about it. He’d slapped Jax on the shoulder, told him to treat his daughter right, and that had been it.

But that was nothing compared to what was about to go down between him and his vice president.

When Opie hopped up the steps to T-M’s front door and grabbed hold of the door leading to the office, that was more than Jax could stomach.

“Hey, Ope,” Jax shook his head at him with a wince. “I wouldn’t go in there if I were you.”

Opie cocked an eyebrow at him. “Why is that?”

“Gemma and Jimmy were in there about 10 minutes ago. We should probably get a prospect to scrub the whole place with bleach before any of us step foot in there again.”

Opie’s eyebrows flew into his forehead, his eyes wide and more than a little disturbed. “You shittin’ me?”

“I wish,” he grumbled. “Prospect caught ‘em in there, pants down, asses out, apparently.”

His VP ran a hand over his face and then he huffed out a laugh. “Jesus.”

Jax just shook his head again as he folded himself down on the steps in front of the office. He set his coffee mug down next to him before digging into the front pocket of his cut for his cigarettes, his thumb fumbling anxiously with the trigger on his lighter as he lit one up and took a long pull.

He waited, a little sense of dread creeping through his chest, as Opie mimicked his movements, dropping down onto the stairs next to him and lighting up his own cigarette. They sat next to each other with a heavy silence between them before Opie’s voice rumbled through the empty space.

“So,” Opie started roughly and then he exhaled a long trail of smoke through his nostrils before continuing, his eyes fixed in a hard line on the pavement at their feet. “This thing between you and my sister.”

Jax swallowed hard. He kept his gaze straight ahead and draped an elbow over his knee, trying to seem as nonchalant as possible before Opie’s voice called out to him again.

“Is it casual?”

He hesitated at that. While he knew exactly what  _ this  _ was between them, he’d never spoken it out loud before now. Even with Jimmy, he’d purposefully skirted around the blunt truth, and had spoken to him in generalities as he assured Jimmy his daughter wouldn’t be treated like a croweater. That had been easy to do. It was the truth, but it wasn’t the whole truth. Now, with Opie settled next to him on these stairs, coiled up like a rattlesnake, generalities weren’t gonna cut it.

Feet to the fire, gun to his head, he knew what his answer was to any question his VP might ask him right now.

“Look, Jax,” Opie told him roughly, flicking some ash from his cigarette and then taking another pull from it just as quickly. “Any other time, your business is your business unless you wanna bring me into it. But  _ this  _ particular time isn’t that. She’s my sister. And she’s the club’s lawyer. Right now, I feel like I got a right to know.”

“It’s not casual, Ope.”

Hearing himself say that out loud felt monumental. He swallowed the lump in his throat and pushed out a sigh. Relief washed over him, and he hadn’t realized how much he’d  _ needed  _ to say it out loud until he did.

Opie nodded tightly, his eyes still fixed to the pavement, his shoulders still stiff with tension. “How long has this been goin’ on?”

Jax huffed out a laugh and shook his head a little. “You asking how long it’s been goin’ on for  _ me _ , or how long we’ve been together? ‘Cuz those are two different things.”

He seemed to consider that for a moment, probably trying to decide just how much he really wanted to know, and then, finally, Opie turned his head to cock an eyebrow at him.

“How ‘bout you answer both questions and we’ll see where that takes us.”

“A’ight,” Jax grinned easily, blowing out a puff of smoke good-naturedly. “The first question? Probably high school, if I’m being honest. And I am.”

Opie’s eyebrows furrowed a little at that, and then he nodded tightly. “Can’t say I’m surprised.”

“Why’s that?”

Opie just lifted a shoulder. “I figured, after you beat Monroe’s ass to a pulp that time he was runnin’ his mouth about her. I figured a guy wouldn’t do that for a girl he couldn’t stand, right? But you never said anything more about it after it happened, so I never asked. But I figured.”

Well, it was good to know, he supposed, that he’d never really done a great job of hiding it.

“And then,” Opie laughed lightly. “Of course there were the times you’d grab my phone whenever I was talkin’ to her when she was at school, and whenever you were wasted outta your mind in the clubhouse. You did that a few times...you remember that?”

He frowned back at him. “Nah. I don’t remember that at all.”

“That’s probably because you were wasted outta your mind.”

“Yeah, probably.”

And if he’d been doing that when he wasted, and when she’d been away at school, he could only imagine he’d been doing it because he’d missed her. Because he’d gone from seeing her at school every day to not seeing her at all, and some liquid courage had probably done the rest of the work for him. Jesus, he really  _ hadn’t _ ever done a really good job of hiding it, at least not when he was drunk.

“So, that second question, brother. How long has this been goin’ on then?”

Jax sighed heavily, bringing his cigarette to his lips one more time before answering the next question. “We’ve been together a few days. It’s new.”

Opie nodded slowly, his mind working through all the answers Jax had just given him. “So, she your old lady, then?”

Jax’s eyebrows lifted at that question. He’d been anticipating that one, but he’d hoped Opie would back off from it when he told him things were still new. 

“We haven’t gotten that far yet, Ope,” Jax told him quietly, taking another long pull from his cigarette to calm his nerves more. It wasn’t really working.

Opie rolled his head a little to the side as he considered that. “Alright. I guess that’s fair. But she’s gonna be.”

His mouth parted to respond, but then he realized Opie hadn’t been asking him a question. That was more an observation than anything. A foregone conclusion. The punctuation on a sentence that had already been written.

“Well,” Opie went on, flicking some more ash from his cigarette as he spoke. “She sure looked like an old lady in the clubhouse before, that’s for damn sure.”

Jax’s mouth lifted at the corners, the image of Allie flooded his mind, her walking around the clubhouse in that huge Samcro sweatshirt and her high heels, with that coffee pot in her hands, filling mugs and checking in on everyone, making sure everyone was okay and had what they needed. Supporting the club. Supporting him.

Yeah, she sure as shit had looked like an old lady then.

“You know,” Opie was saying. At least he seemed a little more relaxed now. “I get you tryin’ to keep this on the down low for now, at least until you’ve got the old lady shit worked out. But, I gotta tell ya, brother - and I’m only saying this to you because  _ someone  _ has to and it’s sorta my job anyway. But, the longer you play this close to the chest, the worse it’s gonna look to the rest of the club.”

“And how’s it gonna look to the club?”

Jax already knew the answer, but he needed to hear Opie say it out loud. And, almost as if he could read his thoughts, Opie threw him a wary side-eye before lighting up another cigarette.

“You push for us to hire her, give us a line about needing to make some changes and getting a lawyer who knows what they’re doin’, and then, not even three months later, you’re messin’ around with her and keepin’ it from everyone. Not a great look, brother.”

He swallowed tightly, and nodded.

“Not to mention the fact that,” Opie laughed, shaking his head as he spoke. “Our lawyer is also my sister. There are a lotta lines there, brother, and you just about crossed every one. Now, I know you didn’t push for the club to hire her just because you wanted to fuck her. I mean, the whole club has seen the way you mess with her, the way you talk to her, the way you always try to ruffle her feathers to get a reaction outta her. I know what you were really doin’ with all that, but the rest of the club doesn’t know that. Not necessarily.”

Jax winced at his VP’s bluntness, but he figured he had that coming.

Opie shot him a cocky grin that told him he knew exactly what he was doing, knew exactly what buttons he was pushing, and he just charged forward.

“And when it gets out, for real, that you two are messin’ around, you know what Piney’s gonna think. You know exactly where Tig’s head is gonna go. Chibs and Juice, too. Maybe not Bobby, but you know what I mean. They’re gonna see this as you takin’ advantage of the club and your position in it just to get some on the side, like you care more about gettin’ laid by my sister than the work she’s doin’ for us - and in doing that, you’re takin’ a risk with everything we’re tryin’ to do at that table because we need her. Not to mention the fact that Allie’s been takin’ our money...you know at least a few of them are gonna wonder if you’ve been dippin’ in while she’s on the clock for us, and that’s not gonna do her any favors either. I know none of that shit is fair,  _ especially  _ not to my sister, but it is what it is and you know it.”

Jax rubbed his hand over his mouth as he digested everything Opie had just said. All of that...that was the last thing he wanted. Definitely the last thing he needed right now too. Still, he had to make sure Opie was clear on that.

“That’s not what this is, Ope,” Jax told him roughly. “I didn’t...I didn’t go lookin’ for this, at least not like that. If there’d even been a chance that she was gonna shoot me down and then leave us hanging, I never would’ve let it go anywhere.”

If he hadn’t gotten the impression that she felt the same way, that she was  _ in  _ this just as much as he was, he would’ve resigned himself to suffer in silence for as long as her professional relationship with the club lasted because that would’ve been what was best for the club. Sure, he would’ve kept ruffling her feathers and pushed her buttons as far as she’d allow, but he would’ve left it at that.

The second it was clear to him that this wasn’t one-sided, that they really had  _ something  _ between them, he’d barreled through without looking back. But still…

“I guess I didn’t really think the whole, let’s-keep-this-quiet thing through.”

Opie huffed at that. “You think?”

“You think anyone else is onto me?”

Opie just lifted a shoulder. “Hard to say. Like I said before, your business is your business, and I don’t think any of us really pay all that much attention to who’s bangin’ who until it gets in their way. Or in their face. Same difference, I guess. But I think, you gotta get the old lady thing sorted out sooner, rather than later, and then you gotta bring the club up to speed as soon as you can. You need to be the one to tell them, not the other way around, and you can’t leave any room for them to misinterpret. If she’s your old lady, that changes things for everyone at that table, whether they like it or not - there’s not much they can really argue with then.”

Jax nodded slowly. Yeah, Ope was right about that.

“Well,” Opie laughed good-naturedly. “I think you started the runnin’ out the clock when you threw yourself on top of her like that at the studio. I did the same thing with Lyla, and she’s my fuckin’ wife, brother.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Jax sighed heavily and scrubbed his face with his free hand. And then he shot Opie a wary glance. “Was that how you figured it out?”

Opie’s eyebrows lifted at him knowingly as he took a pull from his cigarette. “Nope. I figured it out when you showed up on her doorstep after all that shit went down with her mom a few days ago.”

With a cocky grin, Opie dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone, shaking it in Jax’s face a little. “Juice set me up to get notifications on my phone anytime someone rings her doorbell. And even if I didn’t have that, we installed security cameras on her front porch, you dumbass. Who do you think the feed goes to?”

Jax felt all the blood drain from his face, his eyes just about popping out of his head. He’d known that - been well aware of the security system put in place because he’d been the one to okay it. But that night, he was too preoccupied with needing to make sure she was okay to realize what he’d really been doing.

Shit, Gemma really had been right. He really had been sunk before he even started.

Opie quirked his eyebrows again. “You forgot about that, didn’t ya?”

“Yes,” Jax nodded firmly. “Yes, I did,” and then he playfully lunged for Opie’s phone, flipping it open to scan the screen for those notifications before Opie snatched it out of his hands and smacked him on the back of the head.

“Fuck you, that’s my phone. You really need to learn some boundaries with other people’s phones, you know that?”

Jax huffed out a laugh and held up both hands in defense. “A’ight. A’ight. My bad. But you’re gonna delete those notifications, like,  _ now _ , right?”

“Oh, I did that after the first night. I don’t need to know how many times you’re showin’ up on her doorstep or when...or  _ if _ you leave,” Opie eyed him warily with a grin, and then his grin slipped a little. “But, maybe you should think about having Juice do the same for you. If she’ll let you, that is. You know as well as I do that someday soon, Anna’s gonna get desperate, and then a little more desperate, and then she’ll be back. I just hope, for all our sakes, that you’re there when she does.”

“Yeah,” Jax nodded with a heavy heart. “Me too.”

They sat there in silence for a few more long moments, seated side-by-side on the front steps of T-M’s office, staring out into the parking lot as the crowd started to clear a little more. Then, Opie turned to him with a sharp grin.

“Well,” Opie clapped him on the shoulder. “Now that we got that outta the way, let’s get to the part I was really lookin’ forward to.”

Jax cocked an eyebrow at him, flicking some ash from his cigarette as he narrowed his eyes at his VP a little.

“What’s that?”

The hand on his shoulder tightened as Opie leaned in with some new menace that hadn’t been there before. “I’m happy for you and all - Allie too - but if you hurt her, Jax, if you make her cry, if you  _ fuck around _ on her...mark my words, brother, I will end you,” Opie pointed a finger in Jax’s face just to reiterate his point, “and I won’t even feel bad about it. You got that?”

Jax swallowed hard, nodding a little numbly. “Yeah. I got that. I’m not gonna fuck around on her. She’s it for me, Ope. And I can’t promise I’ll never make her cry...but I’ll never hurt her on purpose. Is that good enough?”

And as those words fell from his lips, he knew how true they were. She really  _ was  _ it for him. There really  _ was _ no one else, and there was never going to be. His gaze shifted back to Opie, who was studying him carefully. Opie’s head tilted to the side, and having obviously seen whatever it was he needed to see, his face split apart into a wide grin.

“Yeah, brother,” Opie smiled. “That’s good enough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts on this one?? Lots going on, not to mention Jax and Allie's first hook-up!!
> 
> I can't wait to hear your thoughts and read your comments! And thank you to everyone who's reading this (and commenting and leaving kudos)!


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts on this one? They had two really important conversations, in terms of where their relationship starts and then just for their relationship moving forward. Those are the kinds of things they need to talk about, if they're going to work together to be together.
> 
> So, announcement time! I have been hard at work on another fic, that I'll be starting to post this Sunday! I'm going to keep my regular posting schedule for Fly By Night on Wednesdays, and then post my new story on Sundays.
> 
> My new story is called Witness Protection.
> 
> Jax will find himself in a position where someone close to his family, who he doesn't particularly like, sees something she definitely shouldn't, and with his back against the wall, and not wanting the club to have to kill a woman (or to have to do it himself), he has no other option but to marry her to make sure she stays quiet and can't legally testify against him once the ATF gets involved. 
> 
> You can see the cover at my Tumblr: lovebarefootblonde dot tumblr dot com
> 
> Anyway, I'm looking forward to your thoughts on this chapter, and I'll see you again on Sunday!

Jax punched in the code and let himself into Allie’s house through the door in the garage, locking the door behind him and kicking off his shoes in her hallway. After two hours of patrolling the clubhouse and making sure everyone inside had some food, a safe place to crash there, if they wanted it, or a safe ride home if they needed it, he’d finally been able to hop on his bike and blow out of there.

It was nearly 1:30 in the morning now, and Jax was dead on his feet, the weight of these last few hours dragging along behind him with every step down the hallway. All he needed was one thing, and as soon as he had it in his arms, he had a feeling he’d nearly pass out right then and there. Just as he rounded the corner of the kitchen to head toward the living room, he heard light footsteps padding down the stairs.

Jax tilted his head a little to get a better look at her, and when she appeared in the entryway of the house, all that weight he’d been carrying around broke free. She really was a fucking sight for sore eyes - with her dark hair pulled back in a short ponytail at the base of her neck, blue pajama shorts and a matching tank top. She was probably flashing just as much skin right now as she’d been earlier in that tight black dress, but this was different. This was her home, she’d clearly just been upstairs in her bed, and now he was here, standing in her living room, feeling a little nervous that he’d overstepped by being here right now.

Things were moving fast between them, even he could see that. And he didn’t want to push beyond the limits of what she was comfortable with right now.

And then her lips curved up on her beautiful face as she swept some stray strands of hair behind her ear. Allie kept moving toward him until she met him in the living room, wrapping her arms around his waist without hesitation. He pulled her tight against his chest, breathing her in and squeezing his eyes shut. This was it. This was what he’d needed. And now that he had it, he was never letting it go.

Jax pressed a soft kiss into her forehead, sighing heavily when she leaned even deeper against him. And then he realized her hands were trembling.

He pulled his head back so he could take her hands in his and bring them to his lips.

“You okay, Allie?”

“Yeah,” she laughed a little even as she pressed her forehead into his chest. “I think so. I just...I was feeling okay until my dad dropped me off, and then my hands just kinda started shaking and they haven’t really stopped since.”

He nodded tightly. That was understandable, considering he couldn’t imagine she’d ever been through something like this before. For him, yeah, it was stressful. It was scary as shit. It could’ve been so much worse. But he’d been through this kind of thing before and come out the other side. For her, this was the stuff of nightmares, wasn’t it? The kind of thing she saw on the news, not the kind of thing that was actually part of her life.

Those were the kinds of things that steered him forward, that just drove his resolve to move the club away from all this shit. No one needed this in their lives - not her, not him, no one else in the club and the people they loved. The people they loved needed to be shielded from this shit, and he’d be able to get to sleep tonight knowing they were going to handle this in a way that minimized the violence and the risk for added retaliation.

Of course, most of that hinged on what Allie could dig up on Georgie Caruso and Lacuna Films. And he knew she’d deliver in spades. Allie was the definition of a workaholic overachiever. It was like a sport to her, and she didn’t like to lose. She definitely didn’t fail, and she wouldn’t fail the club now.

Jax brought her hands to his lips again. Kissing away the trauma wouldn’t really make it go away, but he hoped it helped.

Allie smiled at him softly before stepping to the side to pull him back into the kitchen, where she gestured to the island. “Dan left you a present. He wanted me to make sure you saw it.”

His eyebrows lifted at the brown paper gift bag sitting on the island, and he frowned at her with a confused smile, even when she gestured to it with her head.

“Go ahead. He’ll be very disappointed if he finds out you didn’t open it.”

“Well,” he laughed lightly. “We can’t have that.”

“No, definitely not.”

Jax was still smiling as he dipped his hand inside the bag, his eyes flashing at Allie a little when he realized what was inside. He huffed out a laugh, shaking his head as he pulled out Dan’s  _ gift  _ and set it on the counter to get a better look at it. After narrowing his eyes at it playfully, he nodded to Allie with a grin.

“It’s his welcome gift to you,” Allie gestured to the black ashtray with a shrug. “And he requests that you use it. Preferably on the patio.”

His lips twisted, and then he huffed out a laugh. “I’ll be sure to thank him the next time I see him.”

Allie’s eyes flashed a little with amusement, and then she leaned into him conspiratorially, “Just so you are aware, Dan has a  _ gentleman caller  _ in his room. You know, just in case we hear something that can’t be unheard or see something that can’t be unseen. Apparently, he really  _ hit it off  _ with his new scene partner tonight.”

“Ah,” Jax smirked. “I see. A gentleman caller, huh?”

“Yeah,” Allie nodded brightly. “That's how he refers to you, so I figured I’d better return the favor.”

Jax’s lips twisted, and he found his eyes lingering on the bare skin on her legs longer than he’d intended. “Good for Dan. I guess everyone’s gettin’ some play tonight, huh?”

“Sure looks like it.”

He huffed out another laugh and reached out to tuck some stray hair behind her ear before running his thumb over her cheek. “Just so we’re clear, Allie, I came over here tonight to sleep with you,” he grinned at her when her dark eyes widened, “I mean  _ actual  _ sleep. That’s it, okay?”

“Okay,” she told him with a small smile.

The hand on her cheek slipped down to her shoulder so he could pull her in closer. “This was a long,  _ long _ fucking night, and I just wanna be with you. I know what I’m asking for, and if that’s overstepping, just tell me to fuck off, and I’ll fuck off for tonight.”

Allie’s lips curled into a soft smile and she stood up on her tiptoes to press a light kiss into his mouth. Then she took him by the hand, leaving Dan’s gift sitting on the kitchen island, and led him through her living room and up the stairs. He tried not to think too much about the prospect of seeing the inside of her bedroom for the first time, and right about now, he was grateful he’d already come over here with the resolve that he wasn’t going to push things any further than they’d already gone tonight - at least not physically.

When she led him inside her bedroom and shut the door behind them, he found himself smiling as his eyes floated around the room. A big king-sized bed sat against the wall, covered in a cozy-looking grey and white striped comforter and fluffy pillows. She had a white dresser on the other wall with a TV mounted above it, and now his grin just widened. Everything in this room was completely private, completely hers - from the lamp and the small pile of books sitting on the nightstand, the charging cord peeking out from around the side of it, the high heels left haphazardly in the corner, that dress she’d been wearing tonight strewn over the edge of the hamper next to her dresser…

This was her real and true personal space, and she’d just invited him in.

He waited to see which side of the bed she would wander over to, and when she moved to the left side, he followed her lead, stepping around to the right side of the bed until he was standing directly across from her. 

Jax kept his eyes on her as he slipped off his cut and gently tossed it onto the nightstand next to the right side of the bed. He reached inside his pockets, tossing his keys and his prepay next to his cut, his lips lifting at the way her chest heaved a little at his movements. His fingers moved to the buttons on his flannel when he heard her soft voice again.

“You should probably know I think I’m gonna need to take a rain check on the movie for Saturday.”

His movements paused, momentarily disarmed by the low rapse in her voice. Then he recovered just as quickly, cocking an eyebrow at her as his fingers resumed their work on the buttons of his flannel. “Okay.”

Allie’s eyes dropped to watch his movements, inhaling sharply when he slipped his flannel off his shoulders and tossed it to the floor. 

She swallowed tightly, and then started to speak again, her eyes sparking a little when he reached for his belt buckle. “I don’t want you to think I’m blowing you off, but given everything that happened tonight, I think I need some time to just focus on what the club needs me to do.”

Jax felt his lips lift at the corners. His VP hadn’t been wrong tonight - she’d looked like an old lady only a few hours before at the clubhouse, and here she was, doing it again. Putting the club first. Focusing on her job and what they were paying her to do, even if that meant sacrificing time they could’ve had together. He could wait. And, even though she didn’t say it out loud, he liked to think he knew her well enough by now to know that she’d only see his proximity as a distraction while she was trying to work.

“Alright,” he told her as he unbuckled his belt, unable to hide the way his mouth curved up at the side when her shoulders heaved at his movements. He pulled his belt all the way through the loops, dropping it next to his flannel on the floor. “How long do you think you’re gonna need?”

Allie just lifted a shoulder, blowing out a slow breath and subtly chewing on her bottom lip when he unbuttoned his jeans and reached for his fly. “I was thinking through everything I already know about how Caruso operates when I got home before and everything I’ve heard, but don’t have the evidence to back it up yet, and I don’t think it will take that long. He’s an idiot, in a lot of ways, and I have a feeling he’s gonna make it pretty easy on me.”

He nodded slowly, his chest tightening when her gaze dropped his fly.

“And,” she pushed out a little breathlessly. “I’m pretty close to being done with my report on all those interviews I did on Wednesday. I think, if I just focus on the work, I can have everything to you by Monday morning.”

Then, with his eyes firmly locked on her, he unzipped his fly, pushed his jeans down, and took them off, one leg at a time, and dropped them onto the floor next to the rest of his clothes. Now, he stood across from her in his boxer briefs and white T-shirt, smirking at the way her eyes just about fell out of her head, but he wasn’t done quite yet. After the way she’d tortured him on the dance floor tonight, turnabout was fair play.

“Alright,” he nodded with a smirk. “I can live with that. But just so you know, no one expects you to deliver that quickly, especially on both those things. You don’t have to burn the candle at both ends this weekend to get us intel that can wait a few more days. Especially all that shit with King - that’s the least of my worries right now, and I think we can both agree that Caruso is the more pressing matter at hand anyway.”

Her lips curved defiantly, and the way she hitched a hand on her hip had him grinning back at her. “I’m almost done with the report. I could’ve had it to you tomorrow if not for everything that happened tonight. Don’t cut me any slack. I know how important it is that the club has all the information I can find as soon as I can get it to you. You’re paying me to do a job for you, Jax, so let me do it.”

Those words had his eyes moving hungrily over her lips, drinking in her beautiful face, scrubbed free of makeup, and just pure...just her. 

“Yes, ma’am.”

Then he winked at her before pulling his white T-shirt over his head and tossing it onto the pile of the rest of his clothes. Allie’s lips parted, her shoulders heaving again as her eyes dragged along every inch of skin he’d just bared for her. They stared at each other for a few moments just like that, facing each other from across her bed, taking in what the other was giving.

He waited, giving her the time and the space to move first, and when she gingerly lifted the blankets to slide in between the sheets, he followed her lead, lifting her blanket aside so he could slip all the way inside her bed. Jax settled against the soft pillow, grinning when she positioned herself so that her back was to him. That wasn’t a bad play. If she turned around right now, he wasn’t so sure he could be held responsible for what he did.

Instead, he slid closer so he could skim a hand around her waist, finally settling on her stomach, and pulled her flush against his chest. She sighed, resting her hand on top of the arm around her waist, and he didn’t hesitate to twist their fingers together so he could bring her knuckles to his lips. Luckily enough, her hands had stopped their trembling.

“Allie,” he murmured against her neck, pressing a kiss into the soft skin he found there. “This thing between us...is it casual for you?”

It was right on the tip of his tongue to add,  _ because it isn’t for me,  _ but he needed to hear her say it without any pressure, or, at least with as little pressure as possible. His conversation with Opie a few hours ago was still weighing on his mind, and while they still had a little ways to go, he needed to make sure the air was clear between them tonight. Because when he woke up in the morning, in her bed, wrapped around her, there was no going back.

He waited, listening as she inhaled sharply, and her back rose and fell against his chest a few times before he finally heard her soft voice call out to him in the darkness.

“No, Jax,” she murmured. “It’s not casual for me.”

His lips moved to her neck again, and he smiled against her skin. “Good. It’s not casual for me either.”

Allie’s head shifted just enough to meet him in the eye, her lips curling softly, and he couldn’t resist. He pressed a kiss into her mouth, lingering a little longer than he’d planned, and then moved his mouth back to her neck, where he had a better chance of keeping it together.

“I know we said we wanted to keep this quiet for awhile,” he told her carefully. “But I think it’s clear, after tonight, that we probably aren’t gonna be able to keep that up much longer. I think I can put it off for a little while, but...I just wanna make sure you’re good with that.”

“I know what you mean,” Allie sighed, shifting a little to press her back more tightly against his chest. “We obviously didn’t fool Gemma.”

“Or Ope.”

Her head shot off the pillow, jerking toward him in a panic. “What?”

“Yep.”

“No!”

Jax huffed out a laugh, pulling her against him again to settle her back down to her pillow. “He’s aware. We had a conversation about it tonight, and it’s all good.”

“How did he...wait a minute, oh shit,” Allie laughed, pressing her face into her pillow with a little huff of frustration. “I forgot about the security cameras.”

“I did, too,” Jax chuckled.

“They’re just hidden so goddamn well. You can’t even see them on the porch!”

“I know, darlin’,” he chuckled again. “I know.”

Allie peeked up from her pillow, turning her head to glance at him hopefully, “So, is he...what did he say?”

“Well, he wasn’t  _ pleased  _ with me, that’s for damn sure. But we worked it out. Like I said, it’s all good.”

“Okay,” she smiled.

“And,” Jax sighed heavily. This was the part he’d been hoping to avoid for longer, but if they’d already come this far, if they were really going to do  _ this,  _ then she deserved to know. “Ope had some pretty good advice about how to handle the club with all this.”

She nodded into her pillow, and he wrapped the arm around her waist a little more tightly to gear himself up for what he had to say.

“I need to tell them soon,” he started roughly. “And I need to be the one to tell them. I don’t want any of them finding out the way Ope did and then leave them to make assumptions.”

“I get it,” Allie nodded. “I mean, they all saw me on the back of your bike tonight, right? Maybe you could explain that away for now as me just needing a ride, but that doesn’t really hold water considering my dad was going to the clubhouse too. Well, I would  _ not  _ have wanted to be in the same car as him and Gemma.”

Jax grimaced, dropping his chin to her shoulder just for good measure, and then he lifted the arm around her waist out of the blankets to draw a circle in the air with his index finger. “This is a safe space. I really don’t wanna talk about the fact that our parents banged it out in the shop’s office tonight, especially not like this, a’ight?”

“I think we already are,” Allie laughed brightly, shifting in his arms so that she could look at him from over her shoulder. “What are we gonna do about that though?”

He just shrugged. “Not much we  _ can _ do.”

“Well,” Allie huffed, and he didn’t miss the slight bitterness in her voice when she spoke again, “Considering his track record with women, I don’t know how much I trust him around your mom. Especially right now.”

“That might be true,” he lifted a shoulder again. “But seeing where Gemma’s last two husbands ended up, I don’t know if she exactly has the best track record either.”

Allie shuddered in his arms. “Ugh. Jax. No. We will not entertain the prospect that they could ever actually get  _ married _ .”

His eyes widened when he caught her meaning. Well, when she put it like that, she had a really good fucking point.

“Let’s change the subject, darlin’, before I really start to wrap my head around the fact that Jimmy got further than I did tonight.”

Allie was laughing, but she still shot him a wary glance from over her shoulder. “You’re just gonna have to deal with it because you’re not getting  _ any _ further tonight.”

Jax leaned in again until his lips ghosted over her neck. “I know.”

He really liked her phrasing. She wasn’t saying  _ not ever _ . Just not now. Not tonight. He could work with that.

“All that being said,” he murmured against her neck again. “I think, if I gave myself away at all tonight, it was when everything was going down, and bullets were flying and people were screaming, and my first instinct was to get to you. To keep you safe. That’s gonna be hard for me to explain away if and when someone asks me about that. Hell, for all I know, they’re gonna be lining up at the bar tomorrow morning when I get back to make me explain myself.”

She nodded again, sighing heavily in his arms. And here was the part he didn’t want to have to say.

“I gotta get out in front of this as soon as I can, Allie. It’s the right thing for the club, and it’s the right thing for you. I can’t let any of my brothers think I’m taking advantage of my patch. I can’t let any of them call the job you’re doing into question because you’re so fuckin’ good at what you do, and that’s not fair to you. And I can’t let any of them think the only reason I pushed for the club to hire you was because I wanted you.”

“You mean it wasn’t?” Allie threw out lightly, turning her head again to glance at him.

“Are you kiddin’ me?” Jax laughed. “Honestly, I never thought I had a chance in hell of this ever happening, at least not then. My interest in your skills was purely professional.”

Her lips curved softly. “Good to know.”

“When I do have to take this to the table and really explain it, they’re gonna have questions about how  _ this  _ is gonna impact the work you do for the club, how that’s gonna influence the advice you give me, how that’s gonna influence the way I take that advice. They’re gonna ask me those questions, and they’ve got every right to know the answers. And they’re gonna ask  _ you _ those questions too. You need to be prepared to answer, Allie.”

“I understand, Jax.”

He took a deep breath and just let it go. “The first question they’re gonna ask is if you’re my old lady.”

Allie froze in his arms, and he swallowed hard. He’d anticipated her reaction, had mentally prepared himself for her to resist. After all, she’d put up a pretty good fight just about getting on his bike. That was nothing compared to this - although, the two  _ were _ pretty closely related. In the end, she’d resisted until it just didn’t make sense to resist anymore. Necessity had dictated that she get her ass on his bike and let him take her away from everything that had happened at the studio, and so she had. This situation really wasn’t that different.

“I’m not saying you need to make a decision about that right now,” he offered. Although, he sorta was. “I just need you to be aware that it’s gonna come up, and it’s gonna come up soon, and when it  _ does _ come up, we need to have an answer.  _ I don’t know _ , or,  _ we’re not there yet _ isn’t gonna cut it, and that’s not fair to the club either.”

She went quiet in his arms, and even though he couldn’t see her face, he knew her mind was turning all that over, sorting through the options, weighing the pros, the cons, the arguments on either side, just like any good lawyer would do. 

“At the end of the day, Allie,” he pushed on, needing to make sure she really understood where he was coming from. ”There just isn’t any more room for grey area between us, whether we like it or not. Whether we’re ready for it or not. You’re the club’s lawyer, and you can’t be seen as screwing around with the club’s president on the side. And in order for me to continue to hold that title, I can’t be seen as screwing around with the club’s lawyer on the side either. And even then, I’m not gonna sugarcoat it for you - they’re not gonna really trust either of us for awhile, at least not right away.”

He paused again there, giving her some time to catch up and really that sink in.

Necessity dictated that it had to be all or nothing. Either they were official, or they weren’t. And if they weren’t, the club would never accept that. But if it  _ was  _ official, the club might not be happy about it, they might not like it, but they would accept it. Eventually. 

“Once we get all this squared away between us, and bring the club up to speed, they’re absolutely gonna second-guess everything I say at the table in relation to you, and they’re absolutely gonna be thinking about the influence you might have over me in making decisions for the club.”

“I understand that, Jax,” she told him softly. “But, if we’re being honest, didn’t I already have some influence before?”

He grinned, even though she couldn’t see it. “‘Course you did. But that was different, because then, you were just the club’s lawyer. What do you think they’re gonna say about your recommendations on what we need to do about King? You really think none of them are gonna be sitting there going,  _ well, no shit she doesn’t want us hanging around a strip club every day _ . You see what I mean? Even though they know you work for the studio and that I’ll see shit there you’d probably rather I didn’t see...every piece of advice you give us from here on out is gonna be seen that way, not to mention the fact that you’re taking the club’s money for it too. They’re gonna have to sift through whether the fact that I like being in your bed and wanna stay there is coloring my judgment, and they’re gonna wonder if you’re trying to bend me a certain way to keep me in line, if you’re trying to influence me in a way that’s better for our relationship, not necessarily the club. It’s probably gonna be that way for awhile, or, at least until we can prove to them that we can keep what happens in this bed separate from what happens at the table.”

He gave her a little break after that, knowing it was a lot to take in and turn over. He hadn’t realized it was going to be so hard to say all this to her until he was already in the middle of it, but it was a necessary evil. She needed to know, and he needed to be as blunt and honest as possible so she really understood what they were getting themselves into.

“Hey, Jax?”

“Yeah?”

She took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling against his chest. “Don’t you think it would be easier if I just quit? I know I promised Ope I would stick around, and I really  _ do  _ want to help you and the club, but...I’m just not sure it makes sense for me to still be the club’s lawyer if everything you’re saying is true.”

He huffed out a laugh, shaking his head and pressing his lips to her neck. “It wouldn’t be easier, Allie. It just wouldn’t. We need you to be our lawyer.  _ I  _ need you to be our lawyer. I honestly don’t know what the fuck we’d do without you. There’s a way we can make this work so everyone gets what they want - it might take some time, but...you can’t quit on us, Allie. Everything we’re trying to do, everything we’re working toward, we need you to help us get there the right way.  _ I  _ need you to help me get there the right way.”

Jax gave her a moment to let that really sink in, to make sure she really understood that she just couldn’t quit on him, she just fucking couldn’t, before launching back into it.

“So, really, that brings us back to the old lady question, right? And the old lady question makes all those things we just talked about a little easier for them to swallow because the old lady question is an absolute - it’s concrete. It’s seen as permanent and something that deserves respect. Like I said, they’re still gonna question your motives and your advice for awhile - I know how much that fucking sucks because you’ve never given them a reason to believe you don’t have the club’s best interest in mind. You’ve consistently shown up and gone above and beyond what we’ve asked you to do, and everyone at that table has seen that and appreciated it. You’re gonna have to prove yourself all over again and I will too, but that’s a hurdle I’m willing to jump through every day because you’re worth it.”

He had a pretty good feeling he knew where she was going to land on all this. And so he waited, giving her the time and the space to come to that conclusion on her own. He really didn’t want to have to force her hand - he had to wince a little at that because that seemed like a poor choice of words, even in his head, but it was what it was. 

If it had to be all or nothing with her, then he wanted it all. He could live with the consequences of that because not having her just wasn’t an option for him anymore.

And then her soft voice called out to him in the darkness.

“I understand what you’re saying. I really do. And while I’d be lying if I said I was 100 percent ready for this, if my options are being with you, or  _ not  _ being with you...then I’m with you, Jax.”

His chest felt like it was going to explode. He hadn’t been prepared for what this would feel like, to hear her say that out loud, and he hadn’t realized how much he’d needed to hear it until he did.

“And,” she went on, turning around in his arms so that they were face to face. “If being with you means we need to put a label on this now, instead of later, then that’s okay.”

He swallowed hard, memorizing the soft curves of her lips, the way her dark eyes seemed to see everything about him - all his fears, all his flaws, all the weight he still carried around with him - she saw all of that, and yet she’d still let him in her house, in her bed, in her life. He’d never take that for granted.

Still.  _ Fucking still.  _ He had to make sure.

“Is this what you want, Allie?” he asked her hoarsely, desperate to hear her answer. “You’re not just telling me what you think I wanna hear? Because if this is too much, if it’s too fast, you can tell me.”

She laughed lightly, bringing her hand up to his face and resting it on his cheek. His eyes flitted closed at the gentle contact, and then flew open again at the sound of her voice.

“When have I ever said anything to you because I thought that was what you wanted to hear?” she laughed again. “And why would I start now, when it really counts?”

His lips lifted at her words and he fought the urge to lean forward and kiss her. That could wait.

“I’m with you, Jax,” she murmured softly, leaning in so their foreheads were touching. “I’m with you.”

Now, he closed what little distance was left between them, and brushed his mouth against her lips. “You should know this isn’t something I take lightly. I never would’ve even tried to start anything if I wasn’t serious about you. And I  _ am,  _ okay? When those bullets started flying, and I heard you scream, my fucking life just about flashed before my eyes because all I could think about was getting to you. I didn’t give a shit if I got hit with every bullet in my way because that would’ve meant those bullets were away from you, and that you were okay, and that you were in one piece. And if anything had happened to you tonight, Allie, if you’d gotten hit or worse...then I’d be sitting here right now wishing one of those bullets had taken me too. ”

He waited, giving her time to digest what he’d said and nod in response.

“I want this with you,” he whispered against her lips. “I’ve wanted it for a long time.”

“Me too.”

His heart twisted in his chest, burning at the edges, soaring off the cliff. “I think you know the label we need to put on this.”

Allie nodded again, her lips curling in a soft smile. “I understand. And while I’d appreciate it if you really could put off talking to the club a little longer, just so I have some time to catch my breath, if it comes up, and if you can’t avoid it, I understand if you need to tell them sooner rather than later.”

He swallowed hard. In this moment, he’d never been more sure of anything in his entire life. It  _ should’ve  _ terrified him. Should’ve had him shaking in his Nikes. But he wasn’t scared. Not with her at his side, with her intelligence, her humor, her self-awareness, her work ethic, her integrity...with her at his side, he couldn’t lose.

So he kissed her deeply and pulled her against his chest, wrapping his arms around her and breathing her in.

* * *

Allie’s eyes flitted open, blinking at the light that streamed in through her blinds. The heavy arm around her waist tightened, pulling her closer, deeper, and she smiled into her pillow. Then she just couldn’t help herself, turning in his arms so she could press her cheek into his bare skin. Jax stirred a little more against her, and pressed his nose into her hair. 

She could get used to this. She could  _ definitely  _ get used to this.

“What time do you have to get up?” Jax murmured into her hair.

“Hmm,” she groaned a little, not wanting to move, but knowing she’d have to get up eventually. “What time is it?”

He chuckled, shifting against the pillows so he could snatch his prepay off the nightstand and glance at it. “7:03. Where’s your phone, darlin’?”

“Everything got left at the studio last night,” she mumbled, tiredly rubbing a hand across her face. “My phone, my purse...my  _ car _ .”

“Good thing I got my bike here,” he grinned at her as he settled back down on his pillow and pulled her back against his chest. “When do you have to get up?”

Allie sighed. “Soon.”

“I guess I better make the most of my time then.”

Then the fingertips splayed across her stomach slipped underneath her tank top. Allie laughed, turning in his arms to face him.

“I don’t think we have enough time for  _ that _ this morning.”

Jax smirked down at her, his blue eyes sparking in challenge. “Oh, there’s always time for that in the morning.”

She couldn’t help the way her lips spread across her face. There really  _ wasn’t  _ time for that this morning, at least not the way she wanted, but she certainly appreciated the effort. While she’d made peace with the fact that Saturday - and their movie - would have to wait for the time being, Allie was sort of okay with that. Right about now, it felt like everything was moving at breakneck speed, and while she understood the necessity for that, that didn’t mean  _ everything  _ between them had to move so fast.

So, she just smiled back at him and rested her hand against the tattooed arm on her stomach. “I’m good like this, Jax.”

His lips curled at the corners and he leaned down to brush them against her mouth. “A’ight. Hey, can I ask you a question though?”

Allie shifted a little more so she was lying on her back and settled against her pillow so she could really take in the sight of this beautiful, shirtless man in her bed with all his tattoos and those muscles that looked like they were carved out of stone. Jax propped his head up on an elbow, his eyes glinting playfully like he was up to no good.

He tipped his chin to her with a smirk. “How many have there been, Allie?”

She felt her eyes narrow back at him. “What do you mean?”

That smirk only deepened. “Before me. How many?”

“You shouldn’t ask questions you don’t wanna know the answer to, Jax.”

When his eyes flashed, she knew she’d only just spurred him on. She had a feeling they weren’t leaving this bed until she gave him what he wanted.

He grinned down at her, slipping his fingertips underneath her tank top again. “Now that we’ve got some things squared away between us, I think I deserve to know.”

She narrowed her eyes playfully, but this was just a  _ little  _ annoying, and a little hypocritical, especially at seven in the morning. “You realize that if I answer your question, you have to answer mine.”

Jax’s lips quirked again and he nodded, his fingertips drifting down to the waistband of her sleep shorts.

Her eyes narrowed again, which only seemed to make his blue eyes glaze over a little, some new heat in them that hadn’t been there before. 

“26.”

Jax’s eyes widened. His lips parted to respond but sputtered into nothing, and the fingertips at her waistband stilled. Finally, his eyebrows lifted into his forehead.

“ _ 26 _ ?”

Allie’s eyes flicked to him smugly and she slid her fingertips up his forearm. “Are you  _ judging  _ me?”

He immediately shook his head, laughing under his breath and dipping his head lower to brush his lips against her forehead. “Nope. I would never. I’m just...surprised is all.”

“Uh huh, sure. What were you expecting me to say?”

He mulled that over and pushed out a rough sigh. “I don’t know.”

“Like...five? Seven? That’s not fair, Jax.”

“What?” he laughed. “I’m sorry, okay? Maybe I wasn’t fully prepared, but I can accept it.”

“Well, I think you’d better. What’s  _ your _ number?” Allie shot back, a little more annoyance creeping into her voice than she would’ve liked. “Is it in the triple-digits? Do you even know?”

He was still grinning even as he spoke again. “It’s  _ possible  _ it’s in the triple-digits. Actually, it’s more than possible. I don’t know the actual number though.”

“Well,” she smacked a hand on his cheek, making his eyes flash playfully. “Considering you have a face only a mother could love, I’m shocked.”

Jax’s smirk only widened, his jaw ticking with amusement. “So, these 26 guys,” he tipped his chin to her again, “where’d you pick ‘em up?”

“How do you know they were all guys?”

That smirk slipped right off his face then, his blue eyes wide and his lips parted, stupefied into silence.

“Why do you want to know, Jax?” she laughed.

He quickly recovered, his eyes softening as he slipped his fingers away from her waistband, sliding them up her body until they rested on her cheek. “I wanna know everything about you.”

Somewhere in between the way his eyes glimmered with curiosity and something else she couldn’t quite place, and the way his thumb brushed across her cheek, she realized what this was. He wasn’t upset or threatened, or  _ actually _ judging her - not like he had a leg to stand on with that - even if he was a little surprised, she supposed that was understandable. He’d only really known her before as a teenager, when the prospect of getting a boyfriend was too tied up in  _ him  _ for her to really consider anyone else seriously. He’d never seen her walking around the halls underneath the arm of some guy or even holding hands with one, and by the time she actually did have sex for the first time, he was long gone from her life, at least at that point. So, it made sense that, somewhere deep down, he’d held onto this idea of her as that teenager, virginal and innocent, inexperienced and cautious.

He wanted to know who she was  _ now _ . And now, she was a 32-year-old adult woman, who’d had sexual partners before him. Some of which had been pretty good, sometimes even better than good, and some that had been...Allie swallowed hard, pushing that away for now, and shifted her focus back to the matter at hand.

Because underneath all of that, she got where he was going with this.

However many had come before him, before her...that didn’t matter anymore. Now that he was in her bed, there would never be anyone else, and after last night, they both understood that.

“Alright,” she allowed with a soft smile. “If you must know -”

“And I must,” he grinned down at her.

Allie just rolled her eyes at him, but pushed through it. “I dated a few of them. Every partner I’ve ever had has been of the male gender. I’ve never had that curiosity before, so I never indulged it.”

His lips quirked again. “Okay.”

“I’ll admit, I’ve never really had much time for dating, especially once I started law school, and then once I graduated and jumped into working for the studio, that time window got smaller and smaller.”

Jax leaned in to brush his lips against her cheek, making sure to press his naked chest into her side as he did it. “Makes sense.”

“So,” she bit down on her bottom lip a little, and his eyes darkened at that, as if he knew exactly what she was going to say next, and was more amused, if not a little impressed, than anything. “I might have, from time to time, and as necessity required, utilized a dating app on occasion in order to…”

His eyes narrowed playfully and he waggled his eyebrows at her. “Get off?”

She huffed out a laugh. “I was gonna say in order to practice a healthy sexual expression, but that works too.”

His eyebrows lifted suggestively again, and his lips curved around his mouth again. No judgment. Nothing other than some playful teasing, but she could handle that.

“And how often did you utilize this dating app in the last few years?”

“Ah,” she just shrugged against his chest. “Off and on. I liked the control.”

“The  _ control _ ?”

“Yeah,” Allie laughed. “I liked all the options. Being able to see what all those options were before making a choice. Being able to decide when...with who and where and how often…”

Now, he looked like he regretted this conversation just a little bit. He scrubbed a ringed hand over his face and pushed out a heavy sigh. “Alright. Alright. I get it.”

“Hey, you wanted to know.”

“You’re right. I asked. You answered,” Jax huffed out a laugh and pulled her more tightly against him now. “When was the last time you used that app, Allie?”

She frowned in thought, sifting through the last few months when her personal life had all but become nonexistent. “It’s been awhile. Definitely a few months.”

His mouth curled at the corners again as he pressed his nose into her air. “Go on. Ask me.”

“Ask you what?”

“You know what.”

Her eyes flicked back to him, unsure if that was an answer she really wanted. They could leave it here and move on with the rest of their morning, especially since she probably did need to get up and start getting ready to head into the studio. But they’d just sifted through some pretty intimate details of her life. It was only fair for him to return the favor.

“When was the last time you were with someone, Jax?”

He shifted again, with his head propped up on his elbow, so he could really look at her, and he kept his eyes fixed on her as he spoke, “You remember that time I went to your office with Ima?”

“Ugh, Jax,” she groaned. “I thought this was a safe space.”

“I know, I know, darlin’,” he laughed. “Just hear me out - that time you basically verbally bitch-slapped her and sent her packing, we got into that fight after she left, you remember that?”

“You mean that time you threw money at me and went all crazy, stupid alpha-male when you found out I hadn’t told you just how badly Luann had screwed things up?”

Jax’s lips curled. “Yeah. That time.”

“What about it?”

“I went back to the clubhouse after that and got just fucking drunk off my ass - I was so pissed. So fucking keyed up, and I’d had half a mind to hop on my bike and barge into your office again just to yell at you some more. I woke up in my dorm the next morning with a girl in my bed who looked just like you. And that was the last time.”

She reared back into her pillow at that. This was  _ not  _ what she had been expecting. “What? That was, like, over two months ago…”

“It sure was.”

Allie wasn’t quite sure how to take the fact that, the last time he’d been with someone who wasn’t her, he’d subconsciously picked someone who  _ looked  _ liked her. Maybe it was best not to linger on that for too long. After all, it didn’t matter anymore anyway.

“So you mean to tell me that you haven’t sex -  _ you  _ \- in more than two months?”

“That’s right,” he grinned at her. “Why is that so surprising?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I guess I’d always figured that, a guy like you - you’d probably never go a day without it if you could help it. And it’s not like you’d have any problems finding a willing partner.”

He tilted his head against his elbow, running his thumb along her cheek again. “Yeah, well, I told you I don’t want anyone else. I think I knew it even then.”

She felt her mouth curl into a slow smile. “That was pretty smooth.”

He leaned in, laughing against her lips. “Thanks.”

“You know,” now she was narrowing her eyes at him. “You’re a pretty good negotiator...all this fancy verbal footwork you’ve been running all over me lately.”

“Fancy verbal footwork?” he laughed again. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, don’t play dumb with me, Jax. You know exactly what you’ve been doing, starting with last night when you basically got me to agree to be your old lady without me even realizing what you were doing and then just now -”

His mouth caught whatever she was going to say, sealing his lips around hers, and then slipping his tongue through when she parted her lips for him. He kissed her deeply as he pressed her back against her pillow, shifting his body so that he hovered over her, and rested his hands on either side of her head. His lips moved over hers one more time before he pushed himself up onto his hands so he could stare down at her with a sexy smirk twisting his lips.

She knew what she’d said. What she’d said  _ out loud _ . She’d officially put a label on it, and that was okay. While she hadn’t been lying last night when she told him she needed a little more time to catch her breath, this  _ was _ a natural next step. Maybe it happened sooner than either of them had really planned, but it was always heading that way. She’d known that when Jax had pulled into her driveway two days ago to pick her up for their date, even if she hadn’t been quite ready to say it out loud yet.

“How much more time do I have?” Jax was asking her now from his vantage point, hovering over her with a grin.

She eyed him warily. “Just a few minutes.”

“Well, then, if I’m probably not gonna get to see you again until Monday, I guess I’d better make this count,” his eyes darkened a little as he spoke, and he leaned down to murmur in her ear, “One more question.”

“Hmm mm.”

His blue eyes glinted down at her. “Let’s say, hypothetically speaking, when you were still using that app, you didn’t have time to swipe right, but you still needed to practice some healthy sexual expression. What would you do?”

Her eyes narrowed at him. “Jax.”

“Allie. I asked you a question, and I’d like you to answer.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “You know the answer to that.”

“Do I, though?” Jax frowned playfully, tilting his chin a little to the side as his hands moved to her wrists and slid them up onto her pillow and over her head. “I don’t think I know until you tell me.”

“Shut up.”

His eyes flashed again as he dipped lower to murmur against her lips. “Did you take care of business yourself, hmm? You got some toys somewhere around here you like to play with?”

Her chest heaved, lifting her breasts up to brush against his bare skin and she thought her eyes might roll back in her head.

“Yes,” she exhaled breathlessly.

Jax’s eyes darkened again as his lips lifted at the corners, tightening his grip a little on her wrists. “Yes to which question?”

“Both.”

God, his eyes were like a truth serum. All he had to do was look at her and she was helpless against him, recklessly spilling anything and everything he wanted to hear. And then he spoke again. 

“Show me.”

His lips started a trail along the side of her neck, drifting over her collarbone, pausing long enough to pay a little extra attention to her left breast and then her right, even as she started to realize what he was saying.

“No way.”

Suddenly, he was gone, ripping his hands away from her wrists, and diving for one of the drawers in her nightstand.

“Hey!” she shrieked a little. “No way, Jax! You are not allowed in there!”

His head jerked up at that. “I’m not  _ allowed _ ?”

“No,” she found herself panting back at him, a little more breathlessly than what she was completely comfortable with right now. “You’re not.”

“Hmm,” he smirked at her, but he let go of the drawer he’d been about to open, and shifted again to hover over her like he’d been before, dropping his hands to her wrists. “You know, I learned a few interesting things about you last night.”

“Oh yeah? And what’s that?” she exhaled.

He dragged his lips over the side of her jaw before settling down on her mouth just once, pulling away so their faces were an inch apart. “I realize you don’t appreciate it when I call you babe. I can respect that, and I’ll lay off that one if you really don’t like it. But, last night, when I had my hands up your dress, I figured out pretty quickly there’s one you  _ do  _ like,” his eyes glinted again as he murmured, “I think you like it when I call you  _ baby _ , don’t you baby?”

Her lips parted, her breasts heaving against his chest, that spot between her legs burning and coiling, as his hoarse voice from last night echoed in her mind,  _ come for me, baby.  _ Yeah, she liked that. She liked it a lot.

Jax’s lips curled into a sexy lop-sided grin as he leaned down to her again. “You wanna know what else I learned about you last night?”

By now she’d lost all ability to speak.

“You’re kind of a  _ bad _ girl,” he murmured, his eyes glinting hungrily. “Aren’t you?”

Allie could only stare back at him with hooded eyes as he brushed his lips against her jaw before sliding his mouth to her bottom lip to suck it between his lips.

“So, here’s what you’re gonna do,” he smirked. “We’re not gonna get to see each other for the next few days, and that’s okay. You’ve got important shit to do, and you don’t need me hangin’ around when you’re tryin’ to do it. But that being said, you’re staring down a long weekend and a whole lotta long hours of work, and I wanna make sure you’re taking care of yourself since I won’t be there to do it for you, okay?”

She swallowed hard, still unable to speak, so she just nodded instead.

“I want you to pick out your favorite toy because I know you’ve got more than one,” his eyebrows lifted suggestively at that. “And I want you to use it  _ at least  _ twice a day from now until Monday because self-care is fuckin’ important. I just have one rule for this weekend though.”

Somehow, she found the ability to speak. “What’s that?”

Jax’s eyes darkened as he wagged a finger in her face. “Self-care is not allowed unless you call me first.”

She sucked in a sharp breath, which only spurred him on to press his lips against her neck.

“I don’t care what time of day it is, what I’m doing, where I am, I’ll find a room, a corner, whatever I gotta do, and I will drop everything and listen. I’ll pull over on the side of the road if I have to. You understand?”

“Yes,” she murmured breathlessly.

He just grinned down at her before leaning in again to brush his lips against her mouth. “That’s what I thought, baby.”

She really needed to get a handle on herself - she was never going to make it out of this bed before noon if she didn’t do something soon. He  _ knew  _ she needed to get to work, knew it was way past time to start the day, knew how much work she had ahead of her these next couple of days, and here he was, with that fancy verbal footwork again, practically making her orgasm until her toes curled without even barely touching her. And then she had an idea…

Now with a little more self-assured calm, she smiled up at him as he pushed himself up to his knees. He was still hovering over her with that smug smirk written across his face, and she narrowed her eyes as she slid up, shifting her body weight to straddle his lap and wrap an arm around his neck.

“Can I ask you a question now?”

His eyebrows lifted a little, but that smug expression was ever-present and etched across his lips. “Go for it, baby.”

With a grin, she leaned her free elbow on his shoulder so she could put her hand in her chin, mimicking his stance on her earlier. “When was the first time you practiced self-care, Jax?”

He frowned, huffing out a laugh, clearly none of the wiser. “Are you kiddin’? I have no idea.”

“Well, if you had to guess, what would you say?”

“You mean like,” his eyebrows dipped together in thought. “How old I was? What I was jackin’ it to?”

“Sure,” she shrugged easily. “You have to have  _ some  _ memory of that first time, even if it’s just a vague one.”

“Huh,” he huffed, his forehead creasing as he worked through those memories. Finally, with narrowed eyes, he allowed, “If I  _ had _ to guess, and this is just a shot in the dark, I think I was maybe 11. Maybe. Coulda been 12 for all I know.”

“Mm hmm,” Allie nodded placatingly. “And what were you thinking about?”

His arms tightened around her waist, and he cocked a curious eyebrow at her. “Well, I can’t be 100 percent sure, but I probably got hold of a magazine or two and went to town.”

“Okay. Makes sense,” she replied, and then her lips spread apart into a smug smile as she tipped her chin to him. “Go on. Ask me.”

Jax’s eyebrows dipped into an uneasy frown. “Ask you what?”

“You know what.”

Now he tilted his head back, just far enough to really get a good look at her, a little bit of anxiety and a brief flash of fear creeping across his handsome face. He pushed out a heavy exhale, and then let it fly, “When was the first time you practiced self-care, Allie?”

Her smile only widened, which, in turn, only made his jaw clench into a firm line. “I was 14.”

Jax nodded slowly, now cocking his head to the side as he listened. “Okay.”

“I was having all these weird  _ feelings,  _ you know? And then I was just feeling them all the time, and I had no idea what I was supposed to do about it. I mean, how is anyone supposed to do  _ anything _ with all those weird, tingly feelings happening between their legs?”

He swallowed hard before clearing his throat. “That sounds pretty terrible, darlin’.”

“Oh, it was,” she nodded sweetly, noting smugly that his hands seemed to be digging into her hips a little more than they had before. “I had no idea what to do. I’m sure this will come as a huge shock to you, but my mom was never big on girl talk.”

Jax huffed out a laugh, his eyes boring into her and hanging onto every word.

“And there was no way I was gonna talk to  _ Mary Winston _ about that,” she grinned at the way his lips lifted at the corners at the sound of her voice. “So, one day, I got dropped off at the studio after school, and when I walked inside, my dad had all these movie posters all over the place. They were getting ready to push out a couple new releases - that was pretty much par for the course, and it still is, but there was this  _ one  _ poster that I just couldn’t stop staring at.”

His forehead seemed like it was threaded in a permanent frown as he worked through the story, trying to keep up with her, and trying to get a step ahead of her to figure out where she was going with this. Allie tilted her head to the side, feeling another surge of power flow through her as she looked down at him. With her legs straddling him like this, she was nestled firmly in his lap with his arms locked around her waist to hold her flush against his bare chest. So, because she could, she drove her hips against his lap to grind against the growing hardness she found there ever so slightly. Then her mouth curled at him when his eyes glazed over.

“So, this movie poster...I can’t remember exactly what it was called to save my life, but it was something about flicking the bean or something stupid like that, which, I now understand that if you’re  _ flicking  _ it, you’re doing it wrong.”

Jax huffed out a low laugh, his jaw working through a combination of amusement and a little bit of agitation.

“Anyway,” she smirked. “So this movie poster was pretty graphic, right? Especially for a 14-year-old. I’m sure you’ve got a pretty good idea what I’m talking about.”

He frowned playfully, exhaling through a heavy breath. “I think you better talk me through it. You know, just to make sure I’ve got the full picture.”

She didn’t miss a beat, determined to top him at his own game. “One of the female actors was front and center, legs spread wide - like all the way out to the sides of the poster, you know what I mean?”

Jax’s head dipped down into a tight nod, but his eyes never let her face.

“And the thing that really stopped me in my tracks was when I realized she had her hand in between her legs. Something just sort of clicked for me, you know?”

He exhaled slowly, his blue eyes darkening at that last part.

“And I thought to myself, that’s it! That’s the answer to all my problems - that’s what I’m supposed to do about all these weird, tingly feelings happening between my legs. So, then, my  _ next  _ problem was that I wasn’t really sure what to do after that. I was standing there, thinking to myself, okay, so I put my hand in between my legs, and  _ then  _ what do I do?”

Jax’s lips lifted again, clearly having settled into the story, and his eyebrows flicked into his forehead as he caught his bottom lip under his front teeth, appraising her with heated eyes. “That sounds like quite the dilemma, darlin’.”

“It really was,” Allie laughed good-naturedly. “And what would you know, the actor who was on that movie poster strolled out of my dad’s office from some meeting and found me staring at her poster. So, she said hi, we introduced ourselves, even though we already knew who the other one was, and then she asked me what I thought of her poster. So, me, having no idea what I’m really saying - I turned to her and said, well, how do you do that?”

She paused there, now that they were almost at the part she was most looking forward to, to gauge his reaction. His eyebrows lifted at her expectantly, waiting for her to continue through with amusement sparkling in his eyes.

“She just shrugged, and said, what do you mean, get off? And I had  _ no  _ idea what she was talking about, even though I had a step-mom who used to be married to a biker and parents who worked in the porn industry. So, I said, what do you mean  _ get off _ ? Her mouth dropped open, clearly scandalized that I had no idea what she was talking about, and then she pulled me into the closest empty office she could find, sat me down in a chair, and explained it to me.”

Jax tilted his head to the side, his eyes narrowing just a touch now, almost as if he was a little concerned this story might end up going sideways. It wasn’t going to. At least not for  _ her _ .

“So, that night, I did exactly what she told me to do. The most important thing, she told me, was to picture someone while I had my finger on the nub -” Allie immediately threw up her hands when Jax barked out a laugh beneath her. “Those were her words, not mine.”

“Sure, they were,” Jax winked at her.

Oh, he wasn’t going to be so smug for very much longer.

“ _ Anyway _ ,” she huffed exasperatedly. “I did as I was told, and that night, I pulled my covers all the way up over my head, and I put my hand down my underwear, and felt around a little because it was kinda weird at first, you know?”

His eyes darkened into a midnight blue at this point, and she noted cheerfully that his chest was rising and falling a whole lot more rapidly than it had been just a few moments ago.

“But then I figured it out pretty quickly. I’m a quick study, you know. And I think that was really because I followed her advice to the T - she told me the best way to get off was to think of someone you really liked, that made you feel those tingles in between your legs without having to touch yourself there, and if you kept picturing that person while you had your finger right on that spot, then you would see stars.”

Jax swallowed hard, pushing out a long, shaky breath, his eyes narrowing on her just a touch. “And did you, baby? Did you see stars?”

Allie nodded slyly. “Uh huh. I did,” and she leaned forward so she could murmur in his ear, “There was this boy in my class that I really,  _ really  _ liked.”

And that was the moment his entire body froze.

“He never really paid that much attention to me though,” she murmured in his ear. “That was okay because I don’t think I would’ve known what to do if he had, but that didn’t stop me from looking.”

Jax’s head reared back, his eyes slamming into her, glazed over with shock and disbelief.

“He was so cute with his long, surfer-boy blonde hair,” Allie grinned down at him smugly. “His hair is different now, but I think I like it better the way it is now,” she ran a hand back through his sleep-mussed hair, “and he had this swagger that was just so cool, so dangerous, so completely full of himself.”

He didn’t even react to  _ that _ because his body was still frozen beneath her, still staring up at her like his head was going to explode.

“I was hopeless for him, which was pretty embarrassing since he never looked my way, but that night, when I put my hand in between my legs for the first time, I pictured him in my mind, his smile, his laugh, his eyes, and I put my finger right on that spot and saw stars.”

Jax’s lips parted, his shoulders sagging as he stared back at her.

“Is that fucking true?” he whispered.

Allie just laughed, wrapping her arm even more tightly around his neck. “What do you mean, is that true?”

His face twisted a little desperately, his eyebrows dipping into a tortured frown. “I’m serious, Allie. Are you making that up or is that fucking  _ true _ ?”

“Why would I make that up?” she smirked down at him victoriously. “I thought we’ve established that I’ve never said anything to you just because I thought it was what you wanted to hear. Of course it’s true.”

Then she clapped a hand to his cheek and lifted herself off his lap to head toward her closet. “Well, I think it’s time I got ready for work.”

He dove for her, almost falling right off the bed in the process, but she jumped just out of reach, laughing all the way to her closet. Jax let his feet hit the carpet, but he stayed right where he was on the mattress, one hand perched on his thigh with his elbow bent out sharply, the other hand draped casually in his lap. But when he tore his eyes off the floor, he pinned her right where she stood. He didn’t look angry or pissed. Frustrated, sure. But...Jesus, he looked downright  _ lethal _ .

Then he lifted a hand and pointed down at the bed with a ringed finger.

“Get back here, Allie,” he growled.

“Sorry,” she shrugged. “I told you. I have to get ready for work. I’m already gonna be getting to the studio way later than I usually do, and I’ve got a ton of things to do when I get there.”

He just stared at her, his blue eyes now so dark again they’d turned black, and he narrowed them at her dangerously. “Get the fuck back here.”

“Nope,” she grinned. “Sorry. You can’t make me.”

Jax cranked his neck from side to side, cracking it once, and then he leapt off the bed. Allie let out one loud shriek before his arms wrapped around her waist to haul her back to the bed, falling on top of her and easily sliding in between her legs. His mouth crashed against her lips, slipping his tongue through when she parted them for him, punishing her more than a little bit when he ground the hardness in his boxer briefs right against that sweet spot between her legs.

“You think you can just blow my whole world apart like that and then walk away?” he rumbled against her lips. “No fuckin’ way, baby.”

She laughed, throwing her head back against the bed, her hands tangling in his hair as his lips left a hot trail from her lips, to her jaw, her neck, her collarbone, and then his hand snaked underneath her tank top, sliding up all the way until his calloused fingers closed around her breast.

Just as his fingertips started to play with her nipple underneath her tank top, someone pounded on her bedroom door.

“Hey!” Dan called out from the other side of the door. “I heard screaming. Allie, are you dead?”

Jax’s body collapsed on top of her in one frustrated heap, and he buried his face in her neck.

“I’m not dead,” Allie called back.

“I fucking am,” Jax mumbled against her neck.

“Okay, good,” Dan yelled. “I was super worried for you. Are you guys gonna come down for breakfast or what? I made coffee and eggs.”

“Alright,” Allie called back, smothering a laugh with her hand when Jax’s head shot off her neck so he could glare at her. “We’ll be right down.”

“What?” Allie laughed when his nostrils flared. “He’s a good roommate.”

“He’s a cockblock is what he is,” Jax grumbled as he rolled off her and scrubbed both hands over his face.

* * *

About ten minutes later, Allie came down the stairs with Jax trailing behind her. By now, he’d calmed down a little bit, although he eyed the navy dress pants she’d pulled on warily, lingering on her bed while he watched her get dressed for the day, brush her hair, and put a little makeup on. She’d decided to skip a shower this morning - it just felt a little dangerous, given the way he lingered on her bed, and she really did need to get to work.

All that being said, his jaw was still set in a pretty tight line, but he’d just have to get over it. 

There weren’t that many days left until Monday anyway.

When they rounded the corner to head into the kitchen, Dan was standing with his back to them at the stove, shoveling some scrambled eggs on to a plate, and then another, before setting them on the island. Allie, used to this routine, opened a drawer off to the side and grabbed two forks. She kept one for herself, handing the other off to Jax, and hopped up on the island to scoop some eggs into her mouth.

“Morning,” Dan called to Jax over his shoulder. “How’d you sleep?”

Jax just chuckled next to him. “Good. And you?”

“Oh, I slept like a dream,” Dan shot back before pointing to a cabinet above their coffee maker. “Mugs are over there. Coffee’s in the pot. Knock yourself out.”

Jax got to work, putting a forkful of eggs into his mouth before reaching up to open the cabinet for the coffee mugs, his tattooed forearms on full display in her kitchen. Even Dan’s eyes seemed to fall out of his head a little bit, and he kept glancing over his shoulder at the sight of this beautiful, leather and tattoo-covered, blonde biker gangster standing at the counter, pouring a cup of coffee with one hand and shoveling another forkful of eggs into his mouth with the other, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Like he’d just always been there. Like they’d all just always been this way.

Jax had his plate cleared just a few moments later, set it in the sink, and then turned back around to face the kitchen island with two coffee mugs in his hand. He held one out to Allie with a wink, and then his eyes started to scan the counter space behind her.

“What are you looking for?” Allie asked, looking over her shoulder as she took a sip from her mug.

“Where’s that ashtray at?”

“Oh,” Dan whipped around from the stove with a spatula in hand and pointed to the patio with the other. “I put it outside already for you.”

Jax flashed him a wide grin. “Thanks, bro,” and then he clapped Dan on the shoulder as he passed him, “Thanks for breakfast. It was good.”

He winked at Allie one more time before disappearing out onto the patio, taking his coffee mug with him. 

Dan waited all of three seconds before he pounced, practically leaping over the side of the kitchen island to not-so-discreetly get a better view of the double doors through the patio. Allie hesitated, not wanting to make a little scene in the kitchen, but then she just couldn’t help herself either.

Jax stood on her patio with his back to the doors, bringing a lighter up to the cigarette in between his lips. He tipped his chin to Dan’s  _ gentleman caller _ , who was already standing out there and who also happened to have his lips wrapped around a cigarette, and then after Jax tossed his cigarettes back inside his cut, the two men reached out to shake hands.

“Well, would you look at us,” Dan murmured to her, his dark eyes wide with mischief. “Living our best lives.”

Allie glanced at her best friend with a soft smile on her face, leaning in to tell him, “He’s cute, Dan.”

“Oh, I know they are.”

She just laughed, smiling at him from over the side of her coffee mug. “You know who I mean. What’s his name again?”

Dan shot her an exasperated glance. “You know his name. You prepped his contract.”

“Oh, right. Remind me again though?”

He lifted his eyes to the ceiling. “Adrian.”

“Ah yes,” and then she dipped her head back, doing her best Stallone impression in a half-whisper, “ _ Adrian _ !!”

Dan’s lips curled back into a tight snarl. “Just because we  _ happen  _ to be filming a boxing movie together next week, and his name  _ happens  _ to be  _ Adrian, _ does not give you free license to make fun of me at every turn.”

“Oh, I think it does.”

“Well, frankly, I don’t care for it,” Dan told her sourly.

Allie waggled her eyebrows suggestively. “So how was it?”

And, Dan - with some fresh pink coloring his cheeks - pressed a hand over his heart, and scoffed at her. “A gentleman never kisses and tells.”

“Or thrusts and tells.”

His eyes flashed at her, but then his lips twisted into a smug smirk. “Okay, fine. I think I might’ve felt the earth move under my feet, okay? There I said it, you emotional terrorist,” and then he turned the tables on her, jabbing a finger in her shoulder. “So how was it for  _ you _ ?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Daniel. All we did in my bed was sleep. And kiss, sure, but mostly sleep.”

It took him a moment to realize that she wasn’t skirting around the truth, that it  _ was  _ the truth, and then his eyes widened diabolically, “Oh  _ shit _ . That’s  _ fantastic _ . Ooo, that explains why he’s so  _ tense  _ this morning, huh?”

And then, just as quickly, his smile melted into something a little sweeter, a little more sly. “Look at you. You’re  _ happy _ . I can see it.”

Allie felt herself sigh, feeling like some huge, invisible weight slipped off her shoulders. “I can feel it. And I can see it in you, too.”

Dan just batted a hand, but she could’ve sworn she saw his cheeks flush with a touch of pink. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Alexandra.”

Yeah, that was good advice. It was too bad she was already long past the point of no return. Sunk before she could swim. Running before she knew how to walk. Maybe she should’ve been absolutely terrified - and furious with herself - for letting it go this far, this fast, especially given every single thing he’d told her about how the club would react, how they would treat her now. She hadn’t fully grasped what all this would mean for her professional relationship with the club, and with Jax, until he’d laid it all out for her. And now, she was kicking herself for not having thought about any of those things sooner. It was going to get worse before it got better - Jax might as well have just come out and said it.

But this was right. They just fit. They just worked.

This thing between them had a name now.

When she climbed on the back of Jax’s bike that morning, snapping on his helmet, and wrapping her arms around his waist to pull herself against his back, she liked to think that ride on the back of his bike set her free. It wasn’t the wind in her hair and on her face. It wasn’t the speed that exhilarated her or the hum of the bike beneath her.

It was just him.

The way he slid so easily into her life, pushing and pulling, poking and prodding, making her live, making her feel, making her come alive in the palm of his hand. The way he looked at her, the way he kissed her and moved with her, the things he’d said, the promise of what they would be, what they would have…

It was worth it.


	22. Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

Allie stepped out of her car and took a deep breath. Time to put her game face on. After a whole weekend of basically non-stop work, she was ready to deliver the goods, so to speak. It really, really didn’t help that her heart was thundering away in her chest. Nerves gnawed away at her stomach, her palms were sweaty, and for a fleeting moment, she almost ducked back into her car, if even to have one more moment to catch her breath.

Not that it would matter much. Or help.

As her fingers punched out a quick text to let him know she was in the parking lot, her eyes darted warily around the parking lot, searching for any signs of Gemma. Normally, whenever she made these trips to the clubhouse, Gemma was out here by now, knocking on her window with a big, shit-eating smile on her face. Today, though, Gemma was nowhere to be found. She half-expected Gemma to pop up next to her like something out of a horror movie.

Allie steeled her resolve, and tossed her phone back in her bag.

She could do this. She was a  _ professional _ , goddamn it, and she had a job to do and she was going to do it the only way she knew how - thoroughly, efficiently, and excellently.

Just for good measure, she smoothed a wrinkle from her black and cream plaid skirt, taking good care to make sure her black turtleneck was tucked in at the back as she started toward the clubhouse’s main entrance. Despite the fact that, even for early November, it was still a pretty warm, sunny morning, she’d purposefully chosen an outfit that covered up as much skin as she possibly could. Her turtleneck, while pretty light and airy in material, stopped at her elbows, and her skirt, while still pretty tight and stretchy, hit at about four inches below her knees.

That was calculated. Allie wouldn’t deny it if he asked her point-blank, but she figured this was really for his own good. Considering the fact that, the last time they’d spoken on the phone was at about 10:00 last night, when she’d been in her bed, with her favorite toy, dutifully following the rule he’d set forth for this past weekend - she felt like she was doing him a favor, especially since she’d followed his rule to the letter, and went for the extra credit on Sunday by calling him three times, instead of twice.

It was safe to say he was pretty sexually frustrated by this point. And it was also safe to say that she was enjoying it.

When the clubhouse’s double doors swung open, those butterflies prepped for take-off, checking all the proper checkpoints and calculations before leaving the ground. And then she got a good look at the Reaper cut heading toward her and those butterflies killed the engine.

Allie schooled the frown that was surely pressed on her lips and pushed a friendly smile on her face instead, giving Juice a little wave as she ventured closer.

He tipped his chin to her with his hands in his pockets, leisurely walking toward her as he closed the distance between them.

Allie smothered her disappointment - this was fine. This was for the best. In fact, this was really for her own good. He was doing her a favor, and probably himself a favor too. The more distance they could keep between themselves at the clubhouse right now, the better.

“Hey, Juice,” she called out to him when they met in the middle.

His face broke apart into an easy grin, but there was something about his sudden closeness that set her a little off-kilter. Something about the way he lingered in front of her, the way his eyes narrowed just a fraction, that had her palms sweaty again. There was no way the club knew  _ yet _ . She was sure he would’ve told her and given her fair warning before she showed up here this morning.

“Hi, Allie,” Juice greeted her good-naturedly. “How’s it goin’ today?”

“Ah, you know,” she smiled. “It’s Monday. And you?”

“Never been better,” he grinned.

He fell into step next to her as they walked toward the clubhouse, and Allie felt her heartbeat tick up a little too high, pounding away in her chest again. 

“We’re ready for ya inside,” Juice explained and then winced a little. “Well, we  _ were  _ ready. There was a, ah, situation this morning that we’re still tryin’ to weed through, and I’m supposed to stall out here for a few minutes before bringing you in.”

“A situation?” Allie laughed a little nervously. “Do I want to know or…?”

Juice shrugged, glancing back at the clubhouse with a grimace. “Well, I guess if we go in there and Tig is still hollering, you might as well know what he’s hollering about.”

She found herself frowning back at him, feeling more than a little apprehensive about being here right now.

Juice tilted his head toward the doors, like he was listening for something, and then shook his head. “Nope. Tig is still hollering. Might as well tell you - who knows how long he’s gonna be going off for,” then he glanced at her apologetically, “Tig and Chibs may have, uh, accidentally...crossed swords last night.”

Allie’s eyes just about popped out of her head, and a laugh erupted from her throat. “What?”

He nodded with yet another grimace. “Yep. It’s been quite the morning around here.”

“I bet,” she laughed again, shaking her head.

“I mean,” he shrugged. “You’d think they would just never speak about it again right? Pretend the whole thing never happened? At least that’s what  _ I  _ would do, but I guess the real problem is that Tig and Chibs are still pretty drunk  _ and  _ high from last night, and so they’re both pretty much still on a tear. It’s been equal parts horrifying and hilarious at the same time, if you know what I mean.”

Allie nodded back to him, biting down on her lip to hide her smile. “I see. That does sound pretty horrifying  _ and _ hilarious.”

“Yep. Pretty much.”

Juice leaned closer to the door again, and Allie couldn’t help herself, following suit, and was pretty sure she heard someone yell - who sounded an awful lot like Tig -  _ you motherfucking bastard, always trying to go swimmin’ in my wake! Well, how do ya like it now?  _ Which, of course, was followed by a crash and some more yelling.

Toxic masculinity at its finest.

“Annndd we’re back at square one,” Juice sighed. He scrubbed a hand over his face, and then shifted his attention back to her. “Hey, I got a legal question for you, if that’s okay.”

Allie just shrugged. “Sure. What’s your question?”

Juice glanced back at the clubhouse a little sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck in thought before reaching into his back pocket for his cigarette pack. After lighting one up, he glanced at the clubhouse one more time as if to make sure no one was headed out toward them.

“I might’ve, uh,” he grimaced again and huffed out a laugh. “I might’ve gotten a DUI a couple weeks ago. Apparently, they recommend you get a lawyer to help you with those kinds of things.”

“Oh,” Allie shrugged again. “Okay. Well, I don’t have a lot of experience in that area, but I’m happy to help however I can.”

Juice appraised her carefully for half a second, and his lips lifted lightly. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

“So what’s your question then?”

He pushed out a heavy sigh. “Well, seeing as how I’m an idiot, and it’s my second one, I guess I just...I don’t really know what I’m in for. I figured I might be able to get out of any real time in County if I’m lucky, but I know I’m gonna be grounded, literally, for some time, and I guess I’m just lookin’ for a little help in figurin’ out what to expect, what I’m gonna have to do.”

“Sure,” Allie nodded immediately. “I can do that,” then she dug into her bag for one of her business cards and passed it over to him, “Here’s my card. The court will send you some case info as soon as everything gets filed, so once you get that, if you could just text me the case number, I can take over from there. In the meantime, I’ll do some research for you and see what I can find out.”

“Thanks,” he nodded with a tight smile. “I appreciate it. Those assholes in there are gonna give me so much shit when they find out, so I’m tryin’ to put that off for as long as I can.”

“Hey,” Allie held out a hand in defense. “No worries. My lips are sealed. Since we’ve got some time, I’ve got my laptop in my car - I’m happy to look some things up for you now, if you want.”

He batted a hand in the air. “Don’t worry about it right now. The wifi’s shit around here anyway. I kept telling Jax he needs to let me up the speed, but his cheap ass won’t let me.”

Then he clapped her on the shoulder with a grin that made her a little nervous.

“But hey, you know,” he grinned at her sharply. “He listens to you. Maybe if you mention it, he’ll actually do somethin’ about it.”

Allie pressed a friendly smile on her face, desperately trying not to look anxious as she adjusted her purse strap on her shoulder. “Well, I don’t know about that.”

Juice just flashed her a grin, giving her shoulder a little squeeze. Then he tilted his head closer to the door again, listening in for more chaos. Whatever he heard, that seemed to be enough, and then he gestured with his head toward the door, waving her on.

“It sounds like they might have that shit under control now,” he told her as he pushed one of the double doors, gesturing for her to pass through the threshold.

She gingerly stepped inside, letting Juice step out in front of her and take the lead as they ventured further inside the clubhouse. And for a moment, it really did seem like things had quieted down. Until it didn’t. 

“You son of a bitch!” Tig roared from somewhere on the clubhouse’s main floor. “You just  _ had  _ to follow us back there, didn’t you? Couldn’t have left well enough alone and let me have her, huh?”

“Aw, fuck ya,” Chibs yelled back. “She had ‘er lips wrapped around my cock not even 10 minutes before she had them wrapped around yours, you ruttin’ bastard!”

That, of course, was followed by the sound of breaking glass and a table being tossed over. Allie winced a little at the noise, but she was still grateful she’d yet to catch a glimpse of him in the fray at the middle of the clubhouse. Then she tilted her head to the side, considering the events playing out in front of them a little more closely.

“So, is this about the girl,” Allie murmured to Juice, who tilted his head lower to hear her better. “Or is this just about them crossing swords?”

“Dunno,” Juice just shrugged. “Seems like a little of both, actually.”

As they moved a tiny bit closer, Allie now had a better view of the action. Tig, looking near-animalistic and feral, juked around Bobby to make a run for Chibs, who’d been pushed about 20 feet away, with a few Reaper cuts in the middle with their backs to Juice and Allie, holding their tattooed arms out to the sides to keep the two men at bay. It didn’t take long for her to find the back of Jax’s head, with his slicked-back blonde hair and broad shoulders filling out his green and black flannel, and her heart stuttered a little at the sight.

“Oh, don’t do me any favors,” Tig roared back, as more breaking glass crashed around the room. “I told  _ you  _ to get the fuck out and let me fuck in peace, and what did you do? You started pulling your dick out.”

Now, she could see the Reaper cuts in the middle a little better, as their shoulders started to shake with laughter. Tig, enraged by the laughter, reached for the closest beer bottle he could find, and threw it at Jax’s feet with a roar. Jax leapt out of the way just as the glass shattered, and then immediately retaliated by grabbing hold of the first beer bottle in his reach and launching it back at Tig.

Allie winced a little, leaning in closer to mutter to Juice, “What do you think the odds are that, somewhere deep down, maybe they  _ wanted  _ to cross swords?”

A low laugh rumbled in Juice’s chest and he shook his head. “Oh, boy. You know, that could very well be true, but if I were you, I’d never, ever say that out loud again. At least not where either of them can hear you.”

“Right,” she laughed. “That’s a good point.”

“I didn’t see ya kickin’ me out, ya bastard!” Chibs shot back, just as more bottles smashed in the middle of the room.

Juice leaned into her again with a grimace. “On second thought, you might be right.”

“Jesus Christ!” Jax’s sharp voice rose above the breaking bottles. “This is the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever seen. This stops now, you goddamn idiots!”

Just to reiterate his point, he grabbed a beer bottle, launched it at Tig’s feet, and then did the same to Chibs, just as Opie yanked Tig back by the collar and shoved him into a chair. Happy got his arms around Chibs’ shoulders, and did the same, effectively putting both men on a well-deserved timeout.

Tig scrubbed a hand over his face, his black eyes darting around the room with a visceral gaze, like he was coiling himself up to strike again, and then his gaze landed on where Juice and Allie were standing just beyond the bar.

He lifted a hand to wave at them, a self-deprecating grin crossing his face as he ran a hand over his eyes again. “Sorry. Didn’t realize there was a lady present.”

That got everyone else’s attention, and all the heads in the room turned to the entryway, where Juice and Allie were still standing. She purposefully kept her eyes away from Jax’s general vicinity, choosing instead to offer the group a sheepish wave.

“Hi,” she told them, grimacing a little at the mess in the middle of the room.

By now, she could feel Jax’s eyes on her, but she chose to keep her focus on Opie, and then Bobby, as Juice led her over to the bar, in an effort to restart her heart a little. Now, it was just thundering away in her chest again - he was so close, yet so far away. Right within reach, but completely off-limits. That only made her want to look at him more, to touch him more. It was a good thing she was here purely for business purposes, and then had plans to hightail it out of here as fast as her high heels could take her once she was done.

If anything, her presence seemed to quell the chaos for now, and the club members who were still in the room started to congregate around the bar, knowing full well that she was here to deliver some vitally important information. She hopped up on one of the bar stools and busied herself with the work, acutely aware that Juice positioned himself to her right, with Opie good-naturedly falling into the barstool on her left.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Jax take his place on the other side of Opie, already digging into that inside pocket of his cut for his cigarettes. She had to bite back a grin as she dipped a hand inside her bag and began pulling out everything she was here to deliver. Yanking a thick stack of papers out, she set them on top of the bar, and then reached inside her bag again for two folders and three thumb drives before also setting them on top of the bar.

Now, a calm settled over the bar, and they waited. Finally, she let her eyes flick to her left, only for them to collide with Jax, who was already watching her with an intensity that nearly knocked her off her barstool. His lips lifted only once, his chest rising and falling a little rapidly, and then he dropped his eyes to the ashtray in front of him.

Jax cleared his throat, and then called out to her, “Alright, Allie. What you got for us?”

She nodded to him, even though his eyes had moved to focus on the stack of papers in front of her, rather than taking the risk of drifting up closer to the rest of her, and she passed one of the folders to him.

“That’s everything I could find on Caruso,” she told him evenly, well aware that all eyes were on her now. He flipped the folder open immediately, scanning the first few pages in concentration. “That’s my hard copy,” she nodded to the folder in his hands, and then pushed the three thumb drives his way across the counter. “And those are the digital copies. I made a digital copy for myself, too, after I scrubbed my laptop of everything I found - just to be safe - and I put my copy in the safe at the studio already. I’d suggest you do the same with these,” she gestured to the drives sitting in front of Jax, “I didn’t want to take the chance that Caruso might decide to try to hack into our system at the studio. I’m not convinced he has the ability to do that, or would even know where to start, but why take the chance.”

Jax nodded tightly, his brow still furrowed into a taut line as he flipped through the papers she’d given him, with Opie glancing curiously over his shoulder. 

“As you’ll see,” Allie told him with a small, victorious grin, “there’s more than enough ammo there.”

He nodded again, his eyes still focused on the evidence in his hand, and then his lips curled into a cocky smirk. They got him. She’d known it this weekend as soon as she stumbled across some very interesting information, and now, Jax knew it too. He nodded one more time just for good measure before passing the folder to Opie, who immediately started to skim its contents.

Then Jax’s sparkling eyes lifted to her. “Nice work, Attorney Levy,” then he tipped his chin to her with a smirk, “What else you got for us?”

She schooled her expression, and then passed him the second folder, gesturing for him to keep passing it along down the line to Bobby. “Those are the finalized incorporation documents for the club’s LLC. Everything’s on file with the state now, and as far as I know, the financial part of that is pretty much done now too?”

Allie looked to Bobby now for confirmation, and he nodded with a grin, holding the folder up in his hands to signal everything was good to go.

“So,” she pushed on. “I’d think that once the checks come in the mail, you could start making donations around town as soon as you wanted. I also put together a list of all the local non-profits you might be interested in at least looking into as you’re making decisions about where to start.”

Jax’s eyes lifted to her again, almost as if he just couldn’t help himself, and the smirk on his face only deepened.

“I’m happy to help however I can,” Allie went on, making sure that her focus was more on Bobby, than the alternative. “If you need me to drop off any checks, at least at first, I can do that.”

“We might need you to do that for us, sweetheart,” Bobby chuckled. “At least at first, like you said. Any thoughts on where we should start?”

“Well, I was going to say the Friends of the Charming Fire Department, but I have a feeling Gemma might try to set my office on fire if I did.”

She paused there, letting that drop onto the bar counter and simmer for a second, and although it took a moment, pretty soon, the men around the bar were chuckling along with her - even Tig, who up until then, was just staring darkly at the counter with murder in his eyes. Jax swiveled his gaze around the small group, taking in their laughter with a proud glint in his eyes, and when he let himself settle his gaze on her, he shot her a quick wink.

Allie sucked in a sharp breath, letting her focus linger on him for just a second before tearing her gaze away. Even if it’d lasted for just a second, it still felt a little risky, a little dangerous...but then again, hadn’t he openly flirted with her in front of the whole club before? He’d definitely winked at her in front of them before, definitely put his hand on her back, definitely put his arm around her shoulders. The only real difference here was her - mainly, her  _ reaction _ . And she knew she’d reacted a little differently this time. She just hoped no one else had caught it.

“But, in all seriousness,” Allie added. “I guess, if it were me, and knowing what your end goals are, I would take however much you’ve set aside to donate each month and split it between as many of those nonprofits on the list as possible from now until at least the end of the year. I think, at least in the beginning, it’s going to be more about the quantity of your donations, rather than the quality. Even if it’s only $50 per donation for now, it’s better than nothing, and it makes it clear to as many people around town as possible that this is what you’re doing now. People talk, and they’re gonna talk about this as soon as it starts happening.”

Jax rubbed a thumb across his mouth to hide his smile, and he nodded immediately. “Alright. That sounds like a pretty good idea.”

“Like I said, I’m happy to drop off the first round of checks, but I also think it will go a long way if someone from the club is there too.”

Jax nodded again, glancing around the bar to see the other Reaper cuts around him doing the same. Then his eyes dropped to her again and he shot her yet  _ another _ wink. This time, she found herself sliding into old habits, narrowing her eyes at him before shaking her head. So, she readjusted her focus yet again to the thick stack of papers in front of her. This was the part she was least looking forward to, but it was a necessary evil. She’d had to give her dad bad news, at least in business terms, plenty of times before, but there’d always been a layer of protection there because he was her dad and she was his daughter.

This particular situation was very different on a lot of, mostly, uncomfortable levels.

She passed one of the packets on top of the stack to Juice on her right, and then Opie on her left, and then handed the rest of the stack to Jax, signalling for him to do what he wanted with the rest of them. He took one off the top, and then handed the rest off to Bobby.

“This is my report on the audit I performed on Dominic King and The Crown Jewel,” she told them tightly, noting that most of them had already flipped it open to the first page to start skimming before she even had a chance to explain. She felt a tinge of annoyance that they weren’t even going to ask questions or wait even just a minute or two to let her explain her thoughts.

Maybe, in their minds, her part in this was already over and her presence, and her thoughts, were no longer necessary. If that was true, then it stung a little - she couldn’t deny it. After all, she’d just spent the last three days working her ass off for them, running on way too much caffeine and very little sleep, and she’d delivered every single thing they’d asked for and then some. She’d purposefully gone above and beyond with the report, outlining every dirty detail and every concerning business practice that she’d been able to dig up on Dominic King, both from her interviews with the dancers and from the documents he’d provided to her. 

In her mind, this one was a no-brainer and she wanted to make sure they saw that too.

“Alright,” Jax was looking around to the rest of the club members around the bar. “Let’s all take a few hours and work through this. Ope - make sure Piney’s got a copy of this too as soon as you can. I wanna make sure everyone’s got enough time to read through this as many times as they need to before we bring this to the table. If anyone’s got questions for Allie, let me know and I’ll get the answers. A’ight?”

He waited long enough to see a round of nods pass through each cut at the bar, then he tipped his chin to Allie, gesturing toward the door with his head. She followed his lead, slipping off her barstool, and pausing long enough for Opie to wrap her in a quick bear hug, and murmuring, “Nice work,” in her ear, and then she fell into step next to Jax as he pushed open one of the clubhouse’s double doors, gesturing with his head for her to head outside first.

Once the door was shut behind them, they started walking through the parking lot side by side, close enough so that their shoulders were almost touching, but not quite, with Jax glancing over his shoulder every few seconds.

With her heart thundering away in her chest again, and feeling like she was about to fall right out of her skin, she just couldn’t take the silence between them anymore.

“Is Gemma around? I’ve usually seen her walking around here by now.”

Jax just lifted a shoulder, leaning in just a hair to glance over his shoulder one more time. “Nah, she took the morning off. Said she had to run errands or some shit like that.”

“Huh.”

Then Jax leaned in, pressing his leather-covered shoulder against hers, and set her body aflame when he rested his hand on the small of her back.

“Nice work in there,” he murmured in her ear, glancing over his shoulder yet again.

“Thanks,” Allie whispered back, and practically jumped out of her heels when his hand dropped from her back so he could give her skirt a playful tug.

“I like this skirt, baby,” he grinned at her before crinkling his nose at her neck. “The turtleneck I could do without, but I get what you were playin’ at.”

“And what was that?” she laughed.

He just smirked at her and tipped his chin cockily. “You think showin’ up here this morning, all covered up like that, was gonna keep my head in the game and my mind off what you’re hiding underneath that skirt and that fucking turtleneck? Allie, you could walk around here in a paper bag, and it wouldn’t work. Well, that probably  _ would  _ work for me, but you know what I mean.”

She just huffed out a laugh when he gave her skirt another tug, but she was still unprepared for the moment when he leaned in again to whisper in her ear, “Can I come over tonight?”

Allie’s eyes flicked to him warily as he casually propped a hand on the driver’s side door of her car and stared down at her. His eyes darkened as his tongue shot out to run under his bottom lip, rolling it up to catch it under his front teeth.

“And what would we do if you came over tonight?”

Jax’s eyes flashed and his lips curled into a sexy smirk. Oh, she knew exactly where this was headed. She just wanted to hear him say it out loud, and it looked like he’d picked up on that pretty quickly.

“Well,” he leaned in again. “I spent a lot of time this weekend thinking through that theory you had.”

“Uh huh,” she nodded coolly. “And what theory was that?”

His eyes narrowed playfully, even as his mouth lifted at the corners again. “The one where you thought you could come all night - with me, specifically.”

“Ah, that theory.”

“Hmm,” his lips twisted again. “And I figured, if you’re workin’ so hard this weekend, not to mention following the rules like an absolute pro, the  _ least  _ I can do is figure out the best way to test that theory for the best results,” and then he wagged a finger at her, “and I think I’ve got it figured out.”

“Please, Mr. Teller, enlighten me,” she smiled. “I’m on the edge of my seat.”

“Well, Attorney Levy,” he smirked again, this time, leaning in closely enough so that his lips brushed against her ear, making her shiver in her heels. “I plan on taking you out for a nice dinner. Maybe we could go back to that place we went to on Wednesday night - you like that place and it’s nice and close to your house, so that checks a lotta boxes for me anyway. I’ll make sure you get your Diet Coke and your steak tacos, and then after you’ve finished your dinner, I’m gonna take you back to your house, walk you up to your bedroom, take off all your clothes, and then have some dinner for myself.”

By now, her heart was stuttering, her breath was coming in and out in stunted huffs, and it definitely didn’t help when his fingertips brushed against her hip as he leaned in even closer.

“And then,” he continued with a sexy smirk. “When I’m good and full, I’m gonna fuck you into next week. How’s that sound? You think that’ll do the trick?”

Once again, he’d rendered her completely speechless. Words failed her, and honestly, she worried a little about what she might say if she actually did have the ability to speak. Not to mention that his words alone sent a spark shooting right between her legs...coupled with his closeness, it was going to be a very long day.

“Now, if any of that isn’t something that interests you tonight, you should probably tell me right now while I’ve got some time to reconsider my approach to your theory.”

Allie swallowed hard, already having known what her answer would be a long time ago, and tore her gaze away from the pavement to look him in the eye. Then she nodded with a slow smile.

“I think that sounds like a solid, fool-proof approach.”

He tipped his chin to her again, his lips curling as the hand on her hip gripped it a little tighter. “That’s good to know. And thank you, by the way - I really did spend my whole weekend thinking through all my options to decide which one, or ones, would yield the most intense results.”

She had to bite down on her bottom lip to keep her reaction at bay. Because, really, any of the other club members could walk out of the clubhouse at any time while they were standing here, and right about now, they would probably get the wrong idea - or, really the  _ right  _ idea about what was really happening between them.

“Well, I’m glad to hear you’re taking this so seriously.”

“Oh, darlin’,” Jax smirked down at her. “I’m prepared to follow through like my life depends on it.”

Now, she had to shift from side to side on her high heels to distract herself from the heat in between her legs. He caught the movement immediately, his head dipping down just a touch to watch her movements, clearly pleased with the effect he’d had on her. 

“So when are you coming over?”

He lifted a shoulder and then started digging in that inside pocket of his cut to unearth his cigarettes. Watching him put one in between his lips, bring a lighter up to his mouth, and then light it really  _ shouldn’t _ be something she found attractive for a lot of reasons. But on him, with the leather cut, the flannel, the hair, the swagger, everything about him was wildly attractive to her and this was no exception.

“Ah,” he shrugged again. “That kinda depends on where everything with King lands today. Me and Ope gotta deal with Caruso first, and then I’m gonna get everyone into the chapel to talk it over. We could either be in and out of church, or in there for hours. It’s hard to say until we get started.”

She felt herself ruffle up at that. Was he even going to bother reading the report she’d spent hours on this weekend? Was  _ anyone  _ in the club going to bother to spend much time looking at the work product they’d paid for or were they all just going to skim through it? She felt herself huff out a frustrated breath, but squashed it as quickly as it fell from her lips. The whole point of this was that they had to prove to the club, every time, every day, that they could keep the personal separate from the professional, and here she was, feeling a little hurt, both personally and professionally, that all the work she’d done this weekend might have been for nothing in the long run.

“Alright,” she replied coolly and pressed a smile to her face. “That makes sense. I’ve got plenty to do at the studio today, especially since we’re still cleaning things up.”

They’d gotten very, very lucky that the majority of the damage was superficial. No major pieces of equipment or sets had been damaged, and definitely nothing that couldn’t be replaced without even having to think about an insurance claim, so at least that was the good news. Unfortunately, she had a feeling the studio would be dealing with the after-effects of the shooting for a long time. Two actors had already quit, especially in light of the attack on Lyla. It wasn’t like she could really blame them. The studio prided itself on keeping all of its actors safe and out of danger, and last Thursday, they’d failed.

Jax grinned down at her supportively, almost as if he could read her thoughts, and with one more quick glance over his shoulder, he leaned in to press his lips into her neck.

“That was risky, Jax,” she chided him lightly, even as her lips curled into a satisfied smile.

“Yeah, well, it was worth the risk.”

“Speaking of that,” Allie grimaced a little, hitching a hand on her hip to put a little more space in between them. “I think Juice is onto us.”

Jax’s eyebrows lifted into his forehead and he winced as he flicked some ash from his cigarette. “Shit. What’d he say?”

“It wasn’t so much what he said,” Allie lifted a shoulder apprehensively, a little unsure of how much she should really tell him, considering the nature of her conversation with Juice before. “It was just a feeling I had.”

He nodded slowly, bringing his cigarette back up to his lips. “Got it. Thanks for the heads up.”

Unfortunately, she also had a feeling he was going to have to have a conversation with the club about them sooner rather than later. Judging by the expression on his face, and the conversation she’d had with Juice, she wouldn’t be all that surprised if that conversation went down today. 

“It’s probably going to get a lot worse before it gets better, isn’t it?” Allie murmured softly.

Jax glanced over his shoulder again as he took a long pull from his cigarette before leaning in again to press his lips to her neck. “The only way out is through, baby.”

“I know,” she smiled back at him. “Good luck with everything today though. I hope it all goes well.”

“Thanks, darlin’,” Jax winked at her again as he pulled her driver’s side door open again. “I’ll shoot you a text as soon as I’ve got an idea when I can get outta here today.”

“Okay,” she grinned, once again feeling those butterflies taking flight. Every time she was around him, it never failed. He crouched down a little to wave at her through the window, puckering up his lips at her for just a second, and then turned on his heel to head back toward the clubhouse.

She was pretty sure the rest of this day was going to feel like the longest one of her life.

* * *

“Piper, I think maybe we should try to quit while we’re ahead,” Allie sighed, leaning back in her chair and rubbing her eyes tiredly. “This is never going to get finished anyway, and I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”

Piper just shrugged before dropping the giant stack of papers in her hand on Allie’s desk. “I think you’re right. So how many resignations have there been already today? Four?”

“Ugh,” Allie groaned. “Don’t remind me. I have no idea how I’m going to explain this to my dad...or the club. This is completely gonna push back the next batch of films on the production schedule and none of them are going to be very happy about this.”

“It’s not like it’s your fault. You didn’t make those actors quit, you know.”

Allie gave herself one moment to bang her head into her desk, and then she shot her head up to shoot Piper a bright, brave smile. “Thanks, Pipes. Have I told you lately how much I love you? Or how happy I am that you decided to take this job? Seriously, I think I’d be lost without you here.”

“Oh boy,” Piper laughed. “I don’t know how I feel about all that.”

“Well, you’re just gonna have to get used to it because I’m never letting you go. Ever.”

Piper laughed again, shaking her head at Allie as she reached for her purse. When she straightened again, she had a sly expression on her face. “Hey, Allie. Can I ask you a question?”

Allie narrowed her eyes a little and hunched her shoulders down to her desk again. “I don’t know. It depends on your question.”

Piper just lifted her eyebrows suggestively. Apparently, she wasn’t getting out of this. 

“You seem different,” Piper stated simply. 

She huffed out a laugh. “That’s not a question, Pipes.”

“Maybe not,” Piper just shrugged, tucking some of her long blonde hair behind her ear as she spoke. “But it’s true though. You’ve been different ever since the carnival.”

“Different...how?”

Now, Piper lifted her head to look Allie right in the eye. “Different like...happy, different.”

“Are you saying I didn’t seem happy  _ before  _ the carnival?”

“No,” Piper shrugged again nonchalantly. “Not like depressed or anything. But you’ve just always seemed a little too...um, don’t take this the wrong way, but you’d just always seemed pretty tense. Stressed all the time. Like you work too much...sorry. I didn’t mean to -”

“Hey,” Allie laughed, shaking her head. “It’s fine. I get what you’re saying. I guess I never realized I…” she trailed off, frowning a little at that train of thought. 

She hadn’t realized she’d ever  _ looked _ even moderately unhappy until people started telling her. First Dan. Now Piper. There’d obviously been something missing in her life. Something meaningful and true. Something that made her  _ happy. _

And then, almost like little 15-year-old Piper could read her thoughts, her lips curled into a sly grin. “So...are you and Jax  _ bowling  _ or are you  _ going to a movie _ ?”

Allie’s lips parted to respond, but the words died on her lips. Then they parted again, but she still couldn’t grasp for any words to form a coherent response.

“Didn’t mean to shock you into a stupor,” Piper shrugged a little too easily. “You guys just seemed like you were having a really good time together at the carnival, and then I  _ did  _ hear Opie and my mom talking about it a few days ago when they thought I was in my room.”

Great. So Lyla knew too. Did  _ everyone  _ already know? Apparently this was the worst kept-secret in the history of worst-kept secrets. Right about now, she was starting to wonder why they’d even bothered to try to keep it quiet in the first place.

Allie pushed out a deep sigh. “What were they saying?”

Piper shot her a wide grin. “Opie was saying something about how Jax said it wasn’t casual between you guys, and that you were... _ it  _ for him. Whatever that means, right?”

Everything just stopped in that moment. She just wasn’t quite sure what to do with that. How to unpack it and analyze it. That just...it flipped everything over sideways, and then twisted it around, and flung itself around the back. All her fears, all her worries...maybe there was no getting around it now. And then, before she could stop it, she found herself turning to a 15-year-old for relationship advice.

“Hey, Pipes, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” she shrugged.

Allie took a deep breath, and still unable she was even about to say any of this out loud, she let it fly. “Jax and I are...well, it’s both. We’re  _ bowling  _ and  _ going to a movie _ . It hasn’t been very long, but that’s where things stand between us right now. We’ve had the old lady conversation, and -”

Piper’s eyes grew wide. “Are you his old lady now?”

Allie frowned back at her, as all her warring thoughts finally bubbled up to the surface. Maybe if she just said the words out loud, that would help her sort through the mess she’d found herself tangled in. Talking through an issue had always helped her before, and she couldn’t imagine that this particular time would be any different. Besides, Piper was safe. Piper would be understanding. And Piper might actually have some real advice for her.

“Well, that’s the thing. I don’t  _ know _ .”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Piper frowned. “I’m pretty sure it’s either...you are or you aren’t. At least, that’s the way it was with my mom and Opie.”

“Well,” Allie sighed and ran a hand over her face. “We had the conversation. We established that we’re not going to see other people and that we don’t want to. And I guess...the way he pitched the old lady thing to me was...I don’t know. It seems so stupid to even say out loud.”

Piper eyed her curiously. “Give it a shot.”

Allie huffed out a laugh at Piper’s directness and wondered where that shy teen had run off to, leaving such a confident, self-aware young adult in her wake. And then she shook her head, forcing herself to get back to the matter at hand. Piper was right - she just had to give it a shot. If she could put it in words, maybe she could make sense of those words too. It didn’t help, though, that she felt so, so incredibly stupid. She wasn’t stupid. But she  _ felt  _ like it right now and that did not sit well.

“The thing about Jax is that he’s just so…”

“Charming?” Piper offered helpfully.

“I was going to say smooth,” Allie laughed. “But charming works too.”

“Yeah,” Piper shrugged. “So does smooth.”

Allie huffed out another laugh and just went for it: “You can just tell, when you’re talking to him and he’s laying on the charm - he just has way too much practice talking women into doing anything he wants them to do. He’s  _ so  _ smooth.  _ Too smooth.  _ Right? I mean, I’m not wrong about that. At least, I don’t think so.”

“No,” Piper shook her head with a playful smile. “You’re definitely not wrong.”

“It’s like, he talks, and I’m just sort of helpless against it. There’s no fighting it. I don’t even try anymore. I just do whatever he’s telling me to do. And for me...for  _ me _ , to feel like I can’t argue, to feel like I have no defense or argument against him - that’s not a place I’m used to living in. And the reality of that - when I’ve spent my whole life and my whole career being able to argue and negotiate almost anything, to feel almost  _ run over  _ by him - whether he’d meant to do it or not - to feel talked into something I still haven’t fully wrapped my head around and feel just so goddamn outmaneuvered...it’s almost  _ crippling  _ for me, Piper. I don’t know any other way to explain it.”

Piper nodded slowly, turning over her words carefully and considerately. “Uh huh. Yeah, that makes sense.”

“I just sort of…” Allie pushed out a deep sigh before pressing on, “let myself fall, and I’m not saying that’s  _ bad _ . Don’t get me wrong, Pipes, I  _ want  _ to be with him. I really do. I’m just sort of...spiraling at how fast this has all moved and I feel like I can’t even have a moment to myself to just figure out what the hell this all is and what it all really means, you know?”

She paused, glancing up at Piper from across her desk, only to find her staring back at her with her lips parted in surprise.

“So,” Piper started slowly. “You  _ don’t  _ want to be his old lady? Is that what you’re saying? You feel like you got talked into it?”

“No!” Allie shot back so quickly it shocked her. “That’s not what I meant at all. I mean, I  _ do  _ feel like I got talked into it, but I just..ugh, so, when we had the old lady conversation, he launched into this long speech about how the club was going to have questions when everyone finds out that we’re together. It all made sense to me, it really did - especially the fact that I’m about 100 percent sure the club is not going to be happy about any of this. But he framed all of that in a way that made it seem more like a necessity or a condition, almost, in order for us to be together, but not necessarily something he felt particularly strong about.”

Piper frowned at that. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve never gotten the impression that he doesn’t actually want to be in a relationship with me. He’s been very clear and direct about that. But the way he said it, the way he  _ framed _ it, it seemed more transactional than anything. Sort of like, the only way we can be together is if we put that label on it because that label was the only thing the club would ever accept. And if I didn’t want to put that label on it, then that was it. We couldn’t be together. He presented it like I had a choice about it when it was always clear, from everything he said, that there really  _ wasn’t _ a choice. And, I guess, what makes me nervous right now is that he framed all of that, every word, it was all framed in terms of the club and how the club will react and how the club will see me differently and not trust either of us for awhile and he never framed it in terms of  _ us _ , you know? About what all that meant for  _ us _ moving forward. About what me being his old lady actually meant to him and for me...”

And whatever that had been that night, she’d fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. So quickly, in fact, that her head was still spinning.

“Did he say that though?” Piper was asking now. “I mean, did he say if you don’t put the old lady label on it, you can’t be together?”

“No,” Allie shrugged a little helplessly. “I’m sorry. Maybe I’m not explaining it right - which for me, is pretty goddamn terrible to have my words fail me right now. I guess, it just seems like, now that I’ve had some time to think about it...he asked me if that was what I wanted, and I told him it was, and I meant it. But, I guess, where I’m stuck right now is that he never...he never said that was what  _ he  _ wanted. I mean, he said he didn’t take it lightly, that he was serious about me, but he never actually said the words, never actually said what being his old lady really meant to him...and he was saying  _ so many  _ words that night. Why couldn’t he have just said that too?”

“Hmm,” Piper mused. “So, you mean, he never actually said,  _ I want you to be my old lady and this is why,  _ or something like that? Is that the problem?”

“Maybe?” Allie allowed with a sigh. Then she scrubbed her hands over her face. “Ugh. I’m being a stupid girl right now. I know that. I just...I just can’t help it. Although, now that you say that, I don’t think he ever  _ did _ say that out loud. He sort of skirted around it, and said something like  _ I want this with you _ , but he didn’t actually say what  _ this _ was. And, I think because he was just talking so much, my head got all twisted and it was all I could do to keep up with him. ”

And now, she’d just agreed to let him come over to her house tonight and screw her eight different ways to Sunday. And again, with that fancy verbal footwork, she’d been powerless to do anything but immediately agree. Before the old lady conversation, she wouldn’t have thought twice about it and would’ve congratulated herself for a job well done. But now, in light of that conversation, she was just caught up in this whirlwind of feelings and had no idea when her feet were ever going to touch the ground again.

“I think, I’m forcing myself to stop and take a pause now because, now that I have a second to really work through everything he said and the way he said it, it sort of seems like he could’ve just been doing what he needed to do to save face with the club and keep me as the club’s lawyer, not necessarily because he even cares about that particular label. Like this means he can have his cake and eat it too - he even  _ said  _ something like that. He said something like,  _ there’s a way to do this so everyone gets what they want.  _ And then he said there couldn’t be any more grey areas between us, not that he...”

She gave herself a minute to process  _ that _ . And then pushed forward.

“ _ I’m  _ actually the only one of us who’s said anything in relation to confirming that label should even be  _ applied _ to us right now. He just referred to it as a  _ label _ and whether he meant to or not, he also implied that it was just a label - that it didn’t mean much beyond the fact that we could keep seeing each other because that label was one the club could accept. And even then, I have no idea what being the old lady of the president of an MC even means, you know? I  _ know  _ what being an old lady means, at least I think I do, but with his role in the club, and what I do for the club, I just don’t know how to navigate that. I don’t know if I even have the slightest idea what I need to be or how I need to act or if I can even be what  _ he _ needs me to be because I don’t know what that is.”

There. She’d said it out loud. And now that she’d said, she realized how deeply she felt it. That was her fear - her deepest, darkest fear right now. Was it so bad to just need to hear him say the words  _ you’re my old lady _ out loud? To really explain what that meant to him, and what that meant for him as the Samcro president, instead of skirting around the issue with his fancy verbal footwork? He’d already said so much that night - it had seemed like nothing was off-limits for him to say then, and the morning after, except that.

They sat there in silence for a few moments as Piper contemplated, and Allie ruminated. At the end of the day, she felt stupid. She knew Jax had feelings for her. She knew that. She’d believed him when he said it wasn’t casual for him. But there was still that nagging, lingering doubt that while she believed Jax wanted to be with her, he’d just been walking a tightrope to not only keep himself in her bed, but to keep her as his lawyer and to keep the club from getting pissed off at him too. And that was it.

“And then,” she went on, unable to stop herself any longer. “And  _ then.  _ For him to tell Opie that I’m  _ it  _ for him? Why would he hold that back from me? That seems like something I should know, especially if he’s basically talking me into all these things that I don’t even fully understand or am even really that prepared for...so was he just saying what he thought Ope wanted to hear so he didn’t get his ass kicked? None of that makes any sense to me, and you know how much I hate that. I guess, at the end of the day, I feel like I’m up to my neck already in this, and the water just keeps coming at me, and my fear is - I’m worried that he’s only up to his knees. Does that make sense?”

Piper nodded tightly, urging her silently to push through it.

And then Allie took another deep breath, and said the words she couldn’t believe she was about to say, “It’s just that...I’ve been so fucking  _ hurt  _ in the past. Just...so devastatingly fucking  _ hurt _ and I’ve picked myself from it. I’ve worked through it and put it aside, and tried to move on with my life as best as I could. And Jax...he’s got me in the palm of his hand, talking me into all these things, and sweeping me off my feet and just being so goddamn  _ smooth _ , and he could crush me so effortlessly it makes me a little sick. The last time I let myself fall so quickly like this, I...it all blew up in a way I still don’t completely understand. And I know Jax would never hurt me  _ that _ way, but I don’t know if I would be able to pick myself up again. He could completely and utterly crush me, and right now, being in the palm of his hand feels like the most dangerous place to be.”

Piper stared back at her thoughtfully for what seemed like an eternity. She winced a little as she folded her arms calmly on top of the desk. Finally, she pressed a pained smile on her face.

“You wanna know what I think?”

Allie sighed, shoving some hair out of her face and feeling like she needed to pound her head against a wall, and then laughed mirthlessly. “Yes. Please, Pipes.”

Piper’s lips parted, and then she hesitated for a moment. After a beat, Piper just shrugged, and let it fly. “If you really wanna know what I think, I think you’re in love with him.”

She paused there to let Allie sit with that for a moment, and in that moment, Allie felt like she’d just been hit over the head with a ton of bricks.

“And,” Piper smiled softly. “I think he’s in love with you too. And I think you’re both a little freaked out about it right now, and I guess that makes sense.”

She paused again, looking to Allie for a reaction, but she was frozen to her seat.

“I mean, when was the last time you had a boyfriend? When was the last time you had  _ time  _ for a boyfriend?”

Geez, Allie thought ruefully, where had this girl come from? But, she figured Piper deserved an answer after all the shit she’d just set at Piper’s feet.

“It’s been awhile,” Allie allowed. “The last time I had a boyfriend that was... _ serious _ , I guess, was when I was in college. Everything after that has been pretty casual. And I guess, and I’m sorry if this is TMI or whatever you wanna call it, but all my dating experiences since college have been primarily just to...”

“Hook up?” Piper offered helpfully.

“Fine,” Allie laughed. “Why skirt around the issue, right? And because of that, I was never looking for anything long-term. I haven’t done this in  _ forever  _ and I’m not sure if I actually even know how to separate the physical part from the emotional part and figure out how it all works together anymore.”

And for her to slap the “not casual” label on this with Jax so quickly, in light of everything she’d waded through and somehow came out the other side, she almost didn’t recognize herself. 

She was usually so cautious, so calculated, so  _ contained _ , and with Jax, the second he’d shown any real, serious interest in her, all of those carefully constructed walls just came crumbling down. And she was still reeling from it. All that control she’d worked so hard to maintain...it felt like it’d just evaporated the moment he asked her out when they were sitting at that bar, in that strip club. At first, she’d liked that feeling - feeling in control and out of control at the same time - but now that she’d had some time to really sit with it, all that scared the shit out of her.

Piper nodded tightly, and glanced down at her hands again as she spoke, “I know Jax was married, but he didn’t  _ actually _ love her. Anyone could see that...but I saw the way he was looking at you at the carnival when you thought we weren’t looking. I saw him put his arm around you. I mean, you should’ve seen the way you guys looked on those bumper cars. I should’ve taken a picture of it just so I could show you now. I saw how happy you both looked just to be with each other. And I’ve  _ never  _ seen him look at another girl like that, not the way he was looking at you. And maybe that freaks him out too.”

“How was he looking at me?” Allie whispered, wincing at how desperate her voice sounded.

Piper just shrugged with a smile. “He was looking at you like he was in love with you.”

Allie chewed anxiously on her bottom lip, acutely aware that she was also now anxiously wringing her hands underneath her desk.

“If I had to guess,” Piper started again slowly, like she was trying to ease Allie into it. “Knowing you, and knowing him, I think he never said the words out loud because he didn’t want to scare you. Because if he said it and just came out with the fact that he’s obviously in love with you, you’d get scared. Maybe he  _ wanted  _ you to be the one to say it first, you know? Maybe he thought you’d come around to it easier if you were the one who said it first.”

“What makes you say that?” Allie huffed out a laugh.

“I don’t know,” Piper shrugged again. “Because you always want to be right? You always like to have the last word? Come on, you know that’s true. He has to know that about you.”

Allie blew out a deep breath at that, and pushed back from her desk a little with her palms. That was a lot to take in. That was a lot to unpack and process and untangle. 

“And,” Piper ventured out again, her eyes drifting up to Allie a little more uneasily now. “I think, because he’s in love with you, he doesn’t want to do anything or say anything that might make you run away. Because...don’t take this the wrong way, Allie, but you kinda seem like the type of person who might run and he doesn’t want you to do that.”

Holy fucking shit. That all made sense. From a 15-year-old.

Allie had to swallow hard. Bite back a laugh. Push away a sob. Smother a scream. She didn’t really know which was up or down right now. Of course, it all sounded so easy and simple. But it wasn’t that easy and simple - now that they’d had the  _ old lady  _ conversation, things had just gotten even more complicated.

But maybe the problem was, and this was the part she didn’t really feel comfortable talking to Piper about, was that their relationship had turned physical almost instantly. She was just as much to blame for that as he was, if not more so. After all, she’d been the one to decide when they were going to  _ go to a movie _ and had been the one to invite him into her office during the wrap party. He hadn’t initiated any of those things.  _ She  _ had, and then he’d followed her lead. Nearly all of their interactions since they’d gotten together had been so sexually charged. And maybe that was part of what she was worried about.

And maybe, if she was being really honest with herself, maybe she  _ shouldn’t  _ have called this weekend to do what he’d told her to do. Maybe she  _ shouldn’t  _ have taken it that far, inviting him into her office at the wrap party, telling him that story, and letting herself get so carried away in him. Maybe she  _ shouldn’t  _ have showed Jax, who she knew was a sexual being all on his own, that part of herself so soon - the part that liked sex and wanted to have it as often as time allowed - because he’d picked up on it almost instantly and ran with it like it was a sport.

Because maybe now she’d given him the impression that this was all about sex for  _ her  _ too. He’d even called her a bad girl - and she was. She definitely was, but maybe he didn’t need to know that about her just yet. And now, thinking they were on the same page about what  _ this  _ was, he was charging forward, talking so filthy to her and turning her on so fast it made her head spin and inviting himself over to her house tonight with the only real intention of having sex. To be fair, she’d probably tortured him to within an each of his life over this weekend, but in doing all that, had she given him the wrong idea? 

Had she given him the impression she thought being his old lady meant that he could keep coming over to her house, taking her out dinner, and then taking her home to have sex with her and that was all it was for both of them? And he was totally fine with that because it meant he got laid non-casually on a regular basis? And if that was what being his old lady really meant, then she was better off walking now while she still could.

“I mean, I get everything you’re saying,” Piper was saying now. “I get why you might see that what he said was transactional, or whatever you called it, but I think he was trying to frame it in a way that you would agree to because he  _ wanted _ you to agree to it.”

Allie felt her eyes narrow a little. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t think he meant to make you feel like being his old lady was just a label that doesn’t mean anything to him. I mean, let’s be honest - you said yourself that Jax starts talking and he can get any woman to pretty much do whatever he wants. I guess he  _ did  _ talk you into doing what he wanted you to do, but I don’t think he did it just because he wants to keep hooking up with you.”

Piper paused there again, glancing down at her hands and then lifting her gaze back up to shoot Allie a quick, reassuring smile.

“They  _ do _ take the old lady thing seriously though - Opie got all crazy-possessive on my mom when they first started saying she was his old lady and then she had to start doing different types of movies after that. So, I mean, maybe it  _ is  _ a label, but I don’t think Jax usually has to work as hard as it sounds like he did when you guys talked. I don’t think he even really called Wendy his old lady. I mean, that just wasn’t anything I ever heard him say about her. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is, maybe you really did need to figure out that old lady stuff now because of the club, but I don’t really think Jax would’ve pushed for it if it wasn’t something he actually wanted. I mean, wouldn’t it be really stupid for him to go through all that just so he can keep hooking up with you? Especially with what you guys think the club might do? I think Jax wants you to be his old lady because he’s in love with you. He just hasn’t told you that yet because it just started and because he doesn’t want to scare you. Maybe he hasn’t said it out loud yet because it scares him too.”

That made sense. It really did. She could wrap her head around that and try to untangle it. And yet. And  _ yet. _

“I guess, if you weren’t in love with him, would you really be freaking out like this right now? And, I don’t know, Allie, if you really feel run over by him, like you said, maybe you should just talk to him about that. All these things you just said to me...I feel like he should probably know those things too. How are you guys ever supposed to be in a real relationship if you don’t?”

That made sense too. It made a lot of sense. She was all over the place right now - she had no idea which way was up or down, if she was coming or going, and she just needed a minute. Just a minute to catch her breath and untangle this. She was just feeling so many things all at once, and this had all gotten really complicated, and really messy, really fast for her. 

Not to mention the fact that this could all get really complicated, and really messy, really fast with the club too. Even today, she’d already been tested - it was subtle, but that was exactly what Juice had been doing. She hadn’t expected to feel so much pressure with that - with the knowledge that if this went bad with Jax, if they couldn’t figure this out, the club might seriously suffer because of it.

Having sex with him would unequivocally change everything for her. And maybe she just wasn’t quite ready for that change.

And because she needed that minute like she needed air, she snatched her phone off her desk and shot off a quick text to him before she could stop herself.

_ Hey, it’s already been a really long day and I’m exhausted. Do you think we could just do dinner and a movie tonight like we’d planned for Saturday? _

She could always change her mind about whether they would literally watch a movie on her couch or if she’d let him into her bedroom again tonight. But she needed to give herself the out right now because she just needed a damn minute.

It was very possible that Piper was right about everything. Very, very possible. And Allie was not prepared for that yet.

Then, two seconds later, her phone pinged with his response:  _ No problem, baby. _

* * *

Jax sauntered through the halls of Lacuna Films, light on his feet with his VP right at his side. He’d been looking forward to this all weekend, among other things, and now he was more than ready to deliver. Caruso wasn’t gonna know what hit him, and that was the point. It wasn’t even a cheap shot. All they were doing was presenting him with the truth, and what he did after that was on him.

Seeing as how they’d been here before, they knew exactly where they were going. They sidestepped around the filming that was happening, literally, right in the middle of the hall - seriously, did this guy have any kind of sense of what he was actually doing? There was a guy banging a chick in the middle of a hallway, being filmed, for everyone to see, right out in the open. Given all the shit he’d ever seen at the clubhouse, this was still pretty fucking weird.

He tipped his chin to his VP with a wide grin as he rapped on Caruso’s office door. This was gonna be fun. He waited a few moments, getting nothing, and then rapped on the door again with his knuckles.

“Alright, alright!” Caruso called out from the other side of the door.

Jax dipped his head closer to listen in, grinning at the whispers and the muffled shuffling he heard behind the door. Apparently, they’d caught Caruso in a private moment. Oh well. Finally, the door flung open to reveal Caruso, red-faced and a little sweaty, as a tall, slinky blonde adjusted her bikini top as she hurried out of the office.

The second he realized who was standing on the other side of his door, Caruso paled and struggled to get the door shut in their face, but Jax shoved his foot in the door, easily propping it back with his elbow so they could push their way inside.

“Hey, listen,” Caruso’s hands shot up just as Opie shoved him back against a wall. “Alright, alright.”

Jax stepped forward with a smirk on his face, reaching into his front pocket and tossing one of those thumb drives at him. It bobbled in Caruso’s hands until he had his hands wrapped around it, staring down at it dumbly.

“We know you were behind all the action that went down at Sweet Productions on Thursday,” Jax informed him easily with a grin. “All the security footage is there on that drive.”

He waited a moment, wanting to savor what he was about to do for as long as he could.

“And,” Jax pushed on with a smirk. “You know, we decided to take it a step further. Just to really drive our point home for you. Our lawyer did a little digging and she delivered for us in spades,” then he gestured to that drive in Caruso’s hands, “and it’s all there for ya, bro. Every last dirty detail, every OSHA violation that you haven’t done shit about...not to mention the fact you just might find yourself in hot water with the IRS if the intel on this drive should somehow fall into the wrong hands.”

Caruso’s eyes widened, and then, the moment he paled as white as sheet was the moment Jax knew he knew just how dangerous this had become for him. Because Georgie Caruso had a bad habit of skimming off the top whenever he got the chance - whether it was from profits or the actors’ cuts - and Allie had found ample evidence that the Feds would be very interested in. And then the idiot opened his mouth.

“That fucking bitch,” Caruso muttered under his breath.

Something dark coiled inside him, and then, a second later, Jax’s arm shot out to clamp his hand around Caruso’s throat and slam him into the wall.

“Let’s get one thing straight, motherfucker,” Jax growled, squeezing his fingers around Caruso’s throat, even though he could feel Opie shifting anxiously behind him, “we’ve got you backed into a corner. You know that, and there’s no way around it. All we gotta do is give our lawyer the okay, and she’ll send every piece of that intel exactly where it needs to go, and then that’s it for you, bro.”

He paused long enough to give that time to really sink in, squeezing his fingers around Caruso’s throat again just for good measure.

Finally, Caruso nodded desperately, wincing when Jax just tightened his grip again. “Okay, okay. I get it. You’re right. I know Allie will -”

Jax felt his lips curl back into a snarl and then he slammed Caruso’s head back into the wall, then he slammed him back again just because he could. Then he leaned in closer to get in Caruso’s face, “Do yourself a favor,  _ bro _ , and take her name out of your mouth. I won’t tell you again.”

Caruso’s eyes widened like baseballs, and he immediately held his hands up in surrender.

“Okay, okay,” he choked out. “I’m sorry.”

Jax loosened his grip just a touch, and wagged a finger in Caruso’s face with a smirk. “Just so we’re clear, what happens from here on out is on you. If you leave well enough alone, we will too. We’ll keep our copies of this intel locked up tight and they’ll stay that way as long as you back the fuck off. But if you  _ don’t  _ back the fuck off, if you keep this stupid shit up, you’d better believe we’re gonna be using the intel that’s on that drive and it’s not gonna end well for you. So, like I said, what happens from here on out is on you.”

With that, Jax let go, dropping Caruso to the floor so he could catch his breath.

“See ya around, asshole,” Jax called out over his shoulder as they walked out of the office, leaving Caruso on the floor, heaving and sputtering.

Jax and Opie sauntered back down the hallway the same way they’d just came only a few minutes before, satisfied with the way that had just gone. He was confident, with the information they had on him, that Caruso would officially roll over and play dead now that they had him under thumb. If he didn’t, he’d be looking at some serious prison time, that was for sure, not to mention the fact that the intel they had would also figuratively burn his business to the ground, and Caruso wouldn’t be stupid enough to call their bluff.

As they headed to their bikes, Opie nudged Jax playfully in the shoulder. “Kinda thought I might have to reel you in for a second back there, brother.”

“Yeah, well,” Jax grinned as he swung a leg over the side of his bike and reached for his helmet. “Couldn’t have that piece of shit runnin’ his mouth about my old lady.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - Happy Wednesday! Thoughts on this chapter? They're not completely on the same page right now, and given how fast everything has had to move between them, I think that's understandable, right? Allie just needs a minute to untangle everything she's feeling so they can talk about it, but unfortunately for her (and fortunately for us) there's some drama headed their way because it's about to hit the fan in the next chapter when Jax has to tell the club they're together now. Get ready for some serious drama! Lol.
> 
> In case you missed it, I posted a new story, Witness Protection, on Sunday. It's very different than this story, and it's been a blast to write! I've added some things that I've never seen in an SOA fanfic before, and I'm really enjoying the challenge of that, as well as writing without as much of a net as this one (for Fly By Night, I have a pretty detailed, rigid outline, but for Witness Protection, it's a lot looser and I've just been opening up blank docs and seeing what happens!). Honestly, I just really needed to give myself a little break writing this story because I was starting to burn out. With 32 chapters banked, I realized I could write a whole story before I run out of chapters, even posting once a week!
> 
> I'm going to keep my posting schedule for Fly By Night on Wednesdays, and Witness Protection on Sundays - I'm working on chapter nine right now of Witness Protection and will probably only write about 20 chapters or so of that one ;)
> 
> Anyway, I'm looking forward to your thoughts on this chapter - they resolved their issues with Caruso, but there's more trouble headed their way...


	23. Chapter 23

_ “Based on the concerning business practices outlined in this report, I cannot recommend that Samcro move forward with this business partnership. It is in Samcro’s best interest to end negotiations, and revoke any preconceived and accepted verbal agreements between the two parties, effective immediately. As Samcro’s end goal is to expand its interests within the community, continuing negotiations with Dominic King and The Crown Jewel, LLC will have a significantly negative business and interpersonal impact on those efforts.” _

Well, if that wasn’t lawyer-ing, then he didn’t know what was.

Jax flipped the report closed with a smirk and set his pen down. He’d already read through it three times already, just to make sure he had a full grasp of the main findings, and then, on the fourth read, he’d started circling and underlining those points so he didn’t forget them later.

The club’s lawyer had been clear, direct, and efficiently blunt about her findings, as well as her analysis of those findings. To him, at least, this seemed like a no-brainer. However, he knew who else was sitting at that table, and he had a pretty good idea where some of them were already going to land on this - with or without Allie’s detailed reporting. He needed to have his arguments ready, and he was almost there.

Having combed through Allie’s report on her audit of Cara Cara months ago, he’d known she was efficient and painstakingly thorough, but he kinda got the feeling she’d gone the extra mile, taking more time than she normally would have to really make sure it was clear. He couldn’t have been more grateful for that because he was going to need all the help he was going to get.

And, he had a sinking feeling that even if the old lady conversation wasn’t brought up at the table today by someone else, he was going to have to do it himself.

Jax just didn’t see a way out of it. Not with the nature of this particular deal and the type of things Allie had dug up. He had to make sure the club was clear that while Allie was his old lady now, he was taking her advice because she was their lawyer and the advice she was giving them was the  _ right  _ advice. Because it was  _ good  _ advice they’d be stupid not to heed.  _ Not  _ because she was his old lady and didn’t want him anywhere near that strip club and what went on inside it. He had to be absolutely clear about that, and the only way to do that was to give them all the facts. 

If he didn’t, and it got out after the fact, regardless of where the vote landed, he was going to find himself in some pretty deep shit with them for a long time. Allie would too - and that was the last thing he wanted. He was already going to be in the shit with them the way it was when they found out and keeping it close to his chest during this particular vote would only make it worse.

He gave everyone another half hour - they’d already been sitting with Allie’s report for three hours, and he figured they’d had just about long enough. What they needed to do was talk all this through, to see where everyone landed, and he had a bad feeling he might not be able to swing the votes to get this off the table once and for all.

After that half hour, everyone shuffled inside the chapel with Allie’s report in hand. A few of them, he noted, like Chibs and Juice had practically worn the pages down, with the report rolled up in their hands. And for others, like Piney and Tig, their reports looked like they’d barely been opened. Which did not bode well for the conversation that was to come.

He figured he already knew where Opie and Bobby would land. Piney and Tig, too. It was everyone else, though, that he just wasn’t so sure about.

And as he gripped the gavel in his hand and raised it up to call church to start, Jax braced himself. He’d mentally prepared himself for this moment all weekend. In fact, part of him was kinda surprised it hadn’t come up before now. Piney had certainly thrown enough dirty looks his way. Juice, too. And given what Allie had said about Juice before she left T-M’s lot earlier today, he might have to do a little more digging to find out what, exactly, Juice had said to her to make her that uncomfortable - if he had to have a conversation with Juice about that, he would.

He had a pretty good feeling that when he did come clean about this, no one sitting at that table was going to be very surprised. All the more reason to just rip off the band-aid and deal with the shit before shit got worse.

So he gripped the gavel tight in his fist, and pounded it.

“I’m guessing everyone had enough time to read through the report,” Jax started, looking expectantly at the rest of the table for confirmation, frowning when he noticed that Piney just stared back at him. “No one had any questions to send back to our lawyer, but if anyone’s got some now, I think that’s as good a place to start as any.”

And here was the only opportunity he was going to willingly invite to this table.

After a few moments of silence, and with all eyes on him, Jax took a shaky breath, and looked his brothers in the eye.

“Before we jump into this, I got somethin’ to say,” Jax pushed out roughly, noting uneasily that Piney was already starting to shoot daggers his way. “Normally, we keep our personal shit personal. The only time we really gotta talk about it is when it bleeds over into club business, or, at least, seems like it might.”

He paused there, glancing down at his hands folded in front of him, giving himself just one minute to prep before he jumped headfirst. After this, there really was no going back. It was a good thing he’d never been more sure of anything in his life. Still, he dug into his front pocket for his cigarettes, giving himself one more minute as he put one to his lips, lit it, and took a few good, long pulls. Then he tilted his head back, blew out a trail of smoke, and dove.

“You should know that Allie and I are together now,” he nodded tightly to the table. “She’s my old lady.”

Jax blew out a breath, and waited to see where that landed. It was pretty much what he’d expected. Opie nodded to him supportively. Bobby did too, albeit with a cautious grin. Chibs looked a little baffled, his eyebrows lifted high into his forehead. Happy stared back at him indifferently. Juice cocked a wary eyebrow at him, leaning into the table to thread his hands together into a tight knot. Tig ran a hand over his face and swore under his breath. And Piney fucking snarled at him.

Pretty much what he’d expected.

“I get that this isn’t ideal,” Jax launched into it, readying himself for that fancy verbal footwork, as Allie had so aptly called it. “And I just wanna be absolutely clear here that this was not what I had in mind when we hired her. She’s still the club’s lawyer and she’s gonna continue to do the work we’ve been paying her to do.”

“Uh huh,” Piney snorted from his side of the table.

“Pop,” Opie warned lowly.

Piney just threw a hand up in the air, jostling his oxygen tank with the movement. “What do ya want me to say? That our fucking president shouldn’t shit where he eats? Or how ‘bout the fact that our  _ lawyer  _ has no business gettin’ into bed, literally, with her fucking  _ clients _ .”

Jax blew out a rough breath and flicked some ash from his cigarette into the ashtray in front of him before slicing his eyes back to Piney. “That’s the only one of those you get, old man. I hope you enjoyed it.”

Piney just huffed out a laugh and batted a hand at the table. “This is ridiculous. I can’t believe what I’m hearin’ right now. You can’t mix business with pussy this way. You can’t get it anywhere else, prez? You gotta lay pipe to the lawyer?”

Now, Jax leaned an elbow on the table so he could jab his finger at the bastard. “You watch your goddamn mouth, Piney.”

“Or what?” he shot back hotly. “You think you got a leg to stand on right now? You think none of us have seen the way you’ve been sniffin’ after her? The way your eyes fuckin’ pop outta your stupid, reckless head when she walks into the clubhouse? You know, I thought you had a little more self-control than that, Jax. A little more goddamn common sense. This could go sideways so many ways it’s not funny, and you’re sittin’ here, gettin’ your rocks off on the club’s dime and thinkin’ with your dick instead of your goddamn head.”

“You know what, old man,” Jax growled back, jabbing a finger at him again just to reiterate his point. “If you think for one fucking second that’s what I’ve really been doing, then you don’t know me very well. You really think I would put anything we’ve been doing at this table at risk like that? Just for pussy? All I gotta do is walk inside the clubhouse and I can get that. Why the hell would I fuck around with our lawyer, just to fuck around, when I can get it anywhere else? That’s not what this is about. She’s my old lady, Piney. You know what that means. Now, you don’t have to like it, you definitely don’t have to accept it right away, but you better  _ fucking _ figure out how to respect it.”

Jax paused there to level a hard glare at the rest of the table, flitting his eyes over Tig, Juice, and Chibs just to make sure they made eye contact.

“And that goes for everyone else at this table too. I understand you’ve got concerns. You’ve got every right to them. And I’m willin’ to listen to those concerns as long as you’re  _ fucking _ respectful of my old lady while you’re doin’ it.”

He glanced at Opie, who nodded to him supportively, with a hint of pride shining in his eyes too.

Tig blew out a haggard breath from across the table, scrubbing a hand over his face before calling out wearily, “I don’t know, Jax. I’m not sure I like this. I mean, don’t get me wrong - I get it. If I had a shot, I’d probably go for it too, but that doesn’t mean this is what’s right for the club. Like the old man said, there are a helluva lotta ways this could go sideways and I don’t really see any of them ending well for us, or you, for that matter. You want her to be your old lady - I don’t think anyone at this table’s gotta problem with _that._ And on that, I say good for you, bro. But I guess...I’m just not seein’ how she can be your old lady _and_ our lawyer without shit gettin’ twisted, and without her turnin’ your head in a way it maybe wouldn’t if she wasn’t your old lady too. I feel like she’s either gotta be one or the other, you know? We can find another lawyer, bro, because it sounds like you’re not willin’ to find another old lady.”

Jax chose to set aside the first part of what Tig said and focused on that last part. He nodded tightly to Tig before taking another long pull from his cigarette. At the rate this was going, he’d have a whole pack gone before he finally left this table.

“I get that,” Jax allowed with another taut nod. “If our roles were reversed, I think I might feel the same way.”

“I gotta agree with Tig,” Juice murmured from his seat, his hands folded tightly in front of him. “I’m not gonna lie, bro, I saw you on the security cameras we put up at her house. Now, I’ll say this - and I wanna make sure everyone hears this and understands this - I’ve kept an eye on that security feed from time to time since we installed them because...well, that’s my job, right? And I’ve only seen Jax on that feed since last week. In his defense, I wanna make sure that’s clear. It’s not like this has been goin’ on under our noses for very long, but you’ve still been doin’ it under our noses. I mean, bro, did you really think I wasn’t gonna see you on those cameras?”

Jax huffed out an angry laugh, mashed his spent cherry in his ashtray, and immediately lit up another one. “What can I say? I’m a dumbass, and I forgot those things were even there. When I went over there last week, I was just checkin’ on her after all that shit went down with her mom. I wasn’t thinking about those stupid fucking cameras,” he shook his head at himself, still unable to believe he’d been too wrapped up in her that night, or the following nights, to remember something as simple as that. “And I didn’t go over there for  _ that _ , and I wasn’t even there that long. The prospect can back me up on that. And as for any other time you’ve seen me on that feed since then, that was me just spendin’ time with my old lady.”

He gave himself another moment, making sure that all sunk in for everyone else at the table.

“And if the next question is why I’ve been doin’ it under your noses, even if it was just for a week, I mean...what do you want me to say? I needed some time to lock that down before I brought it to the table, and that’s what I did.”

Even Piney had to shrug his shoulders at that one. And then Tig tipped his chin to Opie.

“Where you landin’ on this one, Ope? That’s your sister, right? Or at least she was.”

Opie lifted his eyes from his folded hands on the table, and shrugged at Tig. “Jax and I have had words about this already. I haven’t known that much longer than Juice, so it’s not like I’ve been keepin’ any dirty secrets from the club too.”

When Jax shot him a wary glance, Opie held his hands up in defense with a laugh, “Hey, I gotta cover my own ass here, too, brother. Just simmer down for a second. Like I said, Jax and I have talked, and not to get too sentimental here at the table, but the only reason I haven’t beat his ass into next week is because he’s made it clear to me that he’s serious about her. She’s my sister. She’s my family. And I honestly don’t believe Jax would have crossed that line, or  _ any _ of these lines, if he wasn’t serious. I’ve made my peace with it because I think we really do need her with all this business shit, and because I think they work pretty damn well together, in and out of the club. I know I’ve had more time to wrap my head around it than pretty much everyone else, but that’s where I’m at.”

Tig nodded slowly, his eyes drifting to Jax again for just a moment. It was clear he still had a ways to go, but Opie’s input had made a dent in it. In fact, that seemed to bring a lot of this shit to a rearing halt. If Opie was okay with it - when he had more reason to want Jax’s head over this than anyone else - then maybe that was the way forward for everyone else too. Eventually. Piney still looked like he wanted to crawl across the table, oxygen tank and all, and wrap his hands around Jax’s neck. Juice was still shaking his head. Chibs just looked disturbed by the whole thing, and Happy sat in his seat impassively, without an emotion flickering across his face.

“Look,” Jax pushed out a rough sigh and flicked some more ash from his cigarette. “I know what this looks like. I get it. You’ve got every right to question how this is gonna affect the decisions I make at this table. But, brothers, when I say you can trust me on this one, I just need you to trust me on this one. I didn’t go lookin’ for it...it just sort of  _ happened _ , and I know that’s not much of an excuse, but it’s the only explanation I can give because it’s the truth.”

He paused there, taking a deep breath before he pushed out this next part.

“That being said, she’s gonna be my old lady  _ and  _ our lawyer. That’s just the way it is. Everyone at this table knows how much we need her help with the shit we’re workin’ on. Now, I understand that, moving forward, my personal relationship and my professional relationship with our lawyer is gonna get called into question often and for some time. I’m prepared to answer your questions, within reason, and I’m prepared to do it for as long as it takes for everyone at this table to accept that you can trust your president and your lawyer to always work in the best interest of this club.”

He paused again, just to make sure everyone was really hearing him, and then he pushed on.

“Because at the end of the day, that’s what this is really about, right? She’s my old lady, and I’m not givin’ her up. She’s also our lawyer, and she’s done a damn good job from day one. And I gotta say, anyone assuming she’s just taking our money and then messin’ around with me on the side hasn’t been fucking paying attention. You all know exactly where we’d be without her right now - we’d still be trailing along after Rosen, letting him stall and burn down every opportunity we brought his way. Allie has always gone above and beyond, and she’s the best at what she does. She’s an  _ asset  _ to us. She’s brought ideas that none of us would’ve ever thought of. She’s gonna help us right the ship and change our path - just look at the way she had our backs with all that Caruso shit. Without her, our hands would’ve been tied, and we would’ve had no other option but to go to war. The skills she has and the shit she can do gave us another option that didn’t end in blood and bullets, and I think we can all agree that her pulling together that intel saved some fucking lives - probably some of  _ our _ lives too. And she’s doin’ all this - she’s  _ been _ doin’ all this - because it’s her job and because she wants to help the club. I don’t think it’s in her DNA to do anything but win and blow away everyone else in her path. We  _ need  _ her on our side, and we  _ need  _ her help moving forward. And I’m not hiring another lawyer because, honestly, I really don’t believe we’ll ever find one as good as her.”

Jax let that sit for a minute. He wanted to make sure everyone really had a chance to let that swim around before it settled in. He’d meant every word. Every single one. And he just hoped they believed him.

And then Bobby’s quiet voice called out from his end of the table.

“I gotta say,” he chuckled a little. “I’m not surprised by any of this. I don’t know, prez, if I’ve got any real criticism for you right now, it’s that you had your head up your ass about it for so long.”

Jax huffed out a laugh, and was grateful to hear some other chuckles around the table too.

“But all that aside,” Bobby went on. “I feel like I need to say that I’ve seen Allie in action, workin’ for the club, doin’ exactly what we’re payin’ her to do and then some, and she’s a killer. She’s a goddamn shark. I’ve never seen her do anything that wasn’t top of the line lawyering. Hell, we should probably pay her  _ more  _ for the way she handles the other side in business meetings - you guys didn’t see her in that first meeting with King. She had him fuckin’ sweatin’ his balls off right in front of us. Like Jax said, I don’t think she knows  _ how  _ to lose. I don’t really think she ever has. And I also gotta say that ever since she started workin’ for us, I’ve seen some really positive changes in our prez.”

Bobby held up a hand before anyone, Jax included, could cut in.

“I’m not sayin’ there was anything wrong before. But Jax has had his head on straight with her around. He’s been makin’ better decisions with her around, and I think that has more to do with the fact that he can bounce things off someone who knows what the hell they’re doin’ and has good advice to give. Could it all go sideways? Sure. And probably pretty fuckin’ quick too. But I also think the club stands to benefit from this new, uh,  _ partnership _ , if you will. I know that’s not how old ladies are supposed to work, but...I don’t know, we got a new president now, a new path forward now, and if she can help us get there and with just how  _ good _ she is at her job, I think we’d be idiots not to at least see if this can work. So I don’t know, I’m willin’ to give Jax some rope here and trust our prez to lead the way we know he can lead and trust our lawyer to have our backs the way she always has.”

Jax nodded to him tightly, feeling kicked in the teeth a little just as much as he wanted to pump his fist in victory. “Thanks, Bobby. I appreciate that.”

“Sure thing, prez,” Bobby shrugged. “Just tellin’ it like it is. You got yourself a good girl. Don’t fuck it up and fuck it up for the rest of us too.”

Jax huffed out a laugh and shook his head with a relieved grin. “I’ll do my best.”

Then he tipped his chin to Chibs, who’d yet to chime in. “You got anything you wanna say right now, Chibs?”

Chibs just lifted a shoulder. “I dunno, Jax. I’m still tryna wrap my head around it all. I get what Piney and Tig are sayin’, and I get what Ope and Bobby are sayin’ too. I’m not sure where I land on it all though. Sorry, brother.”

“I get it,” Jax nodded soberly. He really did. He didn’t expect anyone to be completely on board with it after this conversation, and he definitely didn’t expect that this was the last time it was ever going to come up at the table.

Then he tipped his chin to Happy, who just shrugged nonchalantly. With another nod, he sucked in a deep breath to gear himself up for this next part. After all, this was why it’d been a necessity to bring this up at the table right now in the first place.

“So,” Jax started heavily. “The reason I wanted to clear the air on that first was because I wanted it to be crystal clear with this particular vote, and this particular deal, that where I’m landin’ on this has nothin’ to do with me and my old lady. Where I land on this - and where our lawyer lands on this - has everything to do with what’s best for the club. And that’s it.”

He waited for the dust to settle on all that, and then all that was left to do was open up the table for discussion and let it land where it needed to land.

* * *

Allie pushed her to-go container aside, kicked off her heels, and propped her feet up on her desk. They’d gotten lunch way later than they’d planned - mostly on account of her epic spiral into freak-out territory, but then Allie had put her big girl pants back on, steeled her resolve, and ordered her and Piper some food. And then, when Piper took a little break, she’d treated herself to some online retail therapy. Her shopping carts at Sephora and Nordstrom were calling, and she answered.

All in all, though, she felt better. Saying everything out loud, working through what she was feeling - especially since she hadn’t quite known what it was she was actually feeling until she said it out loud - it had made all the difference in the world. Allie felt lighter. Like a weight had been lifted. Like the air had been cleared.

She still needed that minute, but now it was starting to feel like she needed more like 30 seconds instead. If anything, now that she’d calmed down a little, she’d made her peace with a few things. She just had to figure out what she was going to do about it first.

“That’s better,” Allie sighed, leaning back in her chair a little, grateful for this break. It was just past 3:00, and she already felt like she’d just had a day and a half crammed into these last few hours. If she was lucky, and with Piper’s help, she might be able to knock out a little bit more of the mounting paperwork on the mountain of her desk, but that was probably wishful thinking.

Just when she started to get some real work done, someone interrupted them with more bad news. It was like a never-ending revolving door of HR nightmares, one right after the other. At this point, she was starting to wonder if they’d actually have to hire someone specifically to handle all this HR shit. Usually, that had fallen to her...but this was just getting to be too much. Of course, in light of today’s events, they’d probably have to wait a while to even think about hiring more support staff. At the rate she was going, she was lucky if her dad would let her keep Piper, at least not without slashing her hourly rate.

And, sure enough, just as she picked up a stack of papers to sort through, another knock rapped on her door.

Allie tipped her head back in her chair and sighed as Piper laughed from the other side of her desk. “Ugh, Piper. What else can go wrong today, huh? What do I have to do to just get us a half hour of uninterrupted peace?”

“I don’t know,” Piper laughed. “Maybe we should move offices. If they don’t know where we are, they can’t find us.”

“You know, that’s not a bad idea,” and then remembering the knock at the door, tilted her head to the side to call out, “Yeah?”

The door creaked open, and a familiar blonde head poked through. Jax grinned at her from the doorway, and she felt her heart squeeze dangerously in her chest. Maybe...just  _ maybe _ , Piper was right, and she really didn’t have anything to worry about, other than to figure out how to start that conversation with him and just explain how she was feeling - all of it. Just maybe, while her freak-out moment was earned and overdue, she’d still just freaked out.

“‘Sup, Allie,” he grinned at her with a wink, and then he shifted his focus to Piper as he stepped inside her office, tipping his chin to Piper with another wink, “‘Sup, Pipes.”

It took Piper all of two seconds to swivel her gaze back to Allie with a knowing, almost expectant expression as if to say,  _ See? I told you, you idiot. What were you so worried about? _ Of course it was just as much about the fear as it was about the worry, but Allie was starting to feel like she was getting a better handle on both those things. Talking it through had helped, but she just wasn’t quite ready to talk it through with  _ him  _ yet.

And that was okay. She deserved that minute. Or 30 seconds. Whatever it was, she needed to take it.

“What can I do for you, Jax?” she grinned at him.

Jax lifted his eyebrows suggestively, shoving his hands in his front pockets and rocking back on his heels. “Well, I’ve got a few ideas, darlin’.”

Piper winced a little, hunching her shoulders, and then grabbed her phone off Allie’s desk before shoving out of her chair. “Aaanndd that’s my cue to leave. I’m gonna see what my mom’s up to right now. Bye.”

Jax just waved brightly at her, watching Piper from over his shoulder long enough to see her close the door behind her, and then he shifted on his heel as he jerked a thumb behind him. “So she knows, right?”

“Oh yeah,” Allie laughed, pushing up from her chair and moving around so she could hitch her hip on her desk in front of him. “Apparently, she heard Opie and Lyla talking about it  _ and  _ she saw us at the carnival when we thought they couldn’t see us. So, there’s that.”

Jax’s lips lifted into a small smile, and then he stepped forward so he could rub his hands on her shoulders and press a kiss into her forehead. “I told them, Allie. We don’t have to worry about keepin’ it quiet anymore, alright?”

She blew out a deep breath. She’d anticipated it would be soon, but she hadn’t really thought it would be  _ this  _ soon. It looked like her 30 seconds had just gotten trimmed to 15 seconds. Her throat started to close a little at that particular realization, but she pushed through it.  _ The only way out is through _ , Jax had told her this morning, and he was right about that. They just had to get through it first.

Allie almost didn’t want to know the answer to this question, but she had to ask it anyway: “So how did it go?”

Jax shrugged, but his lips still pulled apart in a little bit of a grimace. “It didn’t go... _ well _ . But it was pretty much what I expected. Bobby and Ope had our backs, like I figured they would. Tig and Juice definitely aren’t happy about it and don’t like it, but I think, with some time, they could come around. Chibs is...I’m not sure where Chibs’ head is at. Hap probably couldn’t have cared less. And Piney wants to murder me slowly and painfully, but I figured that.”

“Well, I can’t imagine I’m Piney’s favorite person anyway.”

He huffed out a laugh and ran his thumb along her cheek with a smile. “I don’t really give a shit what that old man thinks. He’s on his way out, and everyone at that table knows it. He’s just tryin’ to hold onto the old guard for as long as he can, and in his mind, I’m lacking  _ self-control _ and  _ common sense _ . He’s wrong about that, but I can see where he’s comin’ from.”

Allie sighed, tucking some hair behind her ear, and then sighed again. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, right?”

Jax’s lips lifted. “Right.”

Then he leaned in again to brush his lips against hers, making her toes curl around the edges of her desk. It was disarming how quickly he could move in and make her forget everything else around them. The way he could just evaporate everything else with just one touch, one kiss, and that was it. After a few moments, he pulled away but kept a hand wrapped around her cheek.

“You havin’ a rough day today, baby? You sounded pretty stressed in your text before.”

She huffed out a laugh, leaning in one more time to press her lips into his because she just needed it today. “You don’t know the half of it, Jax. I feel like everytime there’s been a knock on my door today, it’s been someone telling me they’re quitting.”

“Shit,” Jax murmured under his breath.

“I know,” Allie laughed mirthlessly. “There’s been five actor and three crew resignations already and six crew members just haven’t shown up. That’s gonna push our production schedule back at least three weeks, Jax. There’s no way around it - I mean, unless we can somehow replace all those people tomorrow, which we can’t. I just did some quick figuring, but I don’t even want to say the potential profit loss out loud.”

Jax nodded tightly, scrubbing a hand over his face, and then blew out a heavy breath. “I get it. It makes sense, though, right? Of course people were gonna bail after everything that happened last Thursday. I guess I can’t really blame them for wanting to get as far away from all this shit as possible.”

She nodded sadly. What else was there to say? Caruso had gotten what he wanted, even though the club had stopped it from going any further. It was anyone’s guess how long the studio was going to be feeling the aftereffects of this, but she had a feeling they were going to be cleaning up this mess for a long time. And then, just because she needed it, and needed him, Allie leaned in until her cheek hit his leather-covered chest and his arms wrapped around her shoulder to pull her in even closer.

Then he pressed their foreheads together before blowing out another heavy sigh.

“Allie, I gotta talk to you about something,” Jax started roughly, pulling his forehead away from hers so he could dip down to look her in the eye. “I’m not gonna lie - I definitely wanted to see you right now and spend some time with you since I feel like it’s been forever since we’ve just had a minute to ourselves, but I dropped by here today because I wanted us to have this conversation now, instead of later tonight. I know you’re already having a rough day, and I really don’t wanna make it worse, but I just wanna keep this conversation and tonight separate, okay?”

Allie felt a wave of uneasiness settle over her, and that feeling only intensified when his hands slipped off her shoulders and he took a step back, shoving his hands deep inside his front pockets. 

Well, it looked like this day was about to get worse.

“Okay,” she pushed out, giving him permission to just come out with it.

Jax scrubbed both hands over his face like he was gearing himself up for whatever he had to do, and then blew out another deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, they were filled with an anxiousness she’d never seen in them before.

“I think the club might move forward with King.”

Allie reared back in shock. Really? After all her work, after all that time, after everything she’d found and laid at their feet, that still wasn’t enough? They were still going to fall into this incredibly stupid and reckless decision?

Jax held out a hand with a heavy sigh. “I’m right there with you, Allie. If we’d voted today, though, I don’t know if I was gonna be able to get the votes to swing this the other way. Luckily, I was able to stall for a few days because that fucking bastard didn’t even bother to do his homework before he came to the table today. There’s no way I’m gonna push a vote through until everyone comes to the table with all the facts.”

Her eyebrows lifted high into her forehead. “Let me guess. Piney never read my report?”

“I don’t think he even bothered to  _ open  _ the damn thing,” Jax laughed bitterly. “I mean, I’ve got that thing practically memorized I’ve been over it so many times - pages all marked up and everything so I was ready to open up the debate, and he couldn’t even have an open mind about it.”

Now, her emotions were all over the place again as she listened carefully. On one hand, her heart fluttered and squeezed in her chest at his acknowledgement of just how seriously he’d taken the hard work she’d put into that report. On the other, she had a half a mind to drive over to the clubhouse right now and cut off Piney’s oxygen tank.

“If anything, it buys me some more time. I think everyone just needs to sit with this for a little while and really think about it. But...fuck, I can’t believe I have to say this to you,” Jax scrubbed a hand over his face again, “but Piney and Tig seem to be of the opinion that all the problems you found in that audit can be cleaned up and dealt with, and that your analysis of those problems is a little skewed.”

Her lips parted, but she couldn’t find the words to respond. And finally, she found the ability to speak again.

“Skewed?” Allie shot back. “Skewed  _ how _ ?”

Jax swallowed hard, and she noted he backed up just a little bit more, like he needed to put some more physical distance between them so he could say what he needed to say.

“They think that you might be a little more... _ sensitive _ ,” he winced at that and swallowed hard again. “Because you’re a woman and because of  _ this _ .”

Then he gestured between them as if she understood exactly what  _ this  _ was and what it meant. So, he still wasn’t going to say it out loud. And maybe she’d been a little too quick to jump to the conclusion that she really did know what  _ this  _ was if he couldn’t even bring himself to say it right now, when it really mattered.

“So,” Allie started coolly, and Jax bit down on his bottom lip, probably to brace himself more than anything. “Let me make sure I have this straight. I’m a little more  _ sensitive  _ to the fact that Dominic King is using that strip club as a front for a backroom prostitution ring? I’m a little more  _ sensitive  _ to the fact that those girls are getting abused on a daily basis and beaten and raped…”

Her breath caught on that last word, and she had to suck in a shaky breath. And then she found her bearings again.

“But I guess only a woman would really care about that kind of thing, right?”

Jax’s head dipped down so his eyes hit the floor and he shook his head with a heavy sigh, his shoulders taut with tension. “It’s not like everyone else at the table is okay with it. Ope looked sick to his stomach about it - Bobby and Chibs too. No one is saying this is okay, Allie. No one is saying they’re happy about it. Not even Piney. But I just get the feeling that Piney and Tig already have their minds made up, and I think they’ve got Happy and Juice on board with it too. So, that’s probably gonna create a tie, and if it does, I don’t know what the hell I’m gonna do.”

Allie frowned back, unable to believe what she was hearing right now. “What do you mean, you don’t know what you’re gonna do? I think there’s only one answer, Jax.”

“I mean,” he shrugged helplessly. “I kinda get where Piney and Tig are comin’ from here. If we clean it up -”

“How would you clean it up?”

When he didn’t respond, choosing instead to keep his eyes on the floor with his shoulders rising and falling a little more rapidly now, she had her answer.

“Oh, I see,” she allowed coolly. “ _ I  _ would clean it up. That would be the expectation, right? I did it with Cara Cara, I can do it again?”

Jax pushed out a rough sigh, scrubbing a ringed hand over his eyes again. “If we move forward, that would be the expectation, yes.”

“Well, then, you can tell the club I’m not doing it.”

His hand fell to his side as his head tipped back against his neck in frustration. By now, it was clear this was exactly how he’d expected this conversation to go. And as he narrowed his eyes at her, ever so slightly, it also looked a little bit like he was prepping himself to run all over her again like he’d done before. It was too bad for him that wasn’t going to work this time.

“You can’t do that, Allie,” Jax sighed heavily. “I don’t think I need to remind you that we have you on retainer. That’s why I wanted to talk to you about this now, so you’d have some time to wrap your head around it. Because if the vote goes that way, you need to figure out how to push that shit aside and do your job.”

Allie’s eyebrows lifted. Her chest heaved. And for just a second, her vision blurred red.

“I’m pretty sure I can do whatever I want,” she shot back.

Now, his eyes darkened a little, and he took a small step forward, but she stood her ground, unable and unwilling to give him another inch.

“You gotta be real careful here, Allie,” Jax replied darkly. “I went out a fucking limb with the club for you today. I don’t think it’s too much to ask that you at least give this some thought and see if you can find a way to make it work.”

“There  _ is  _ no way to make this work. I thought I’d made myself pretty clear in my report that the club will be making a monumental mistake if you guys move forward with getting into business with Dominic King. So say I  _ do  _ clean it up, and we get his books and his payroll mess back in order, and we scrub the place of all the underage girls and the prositution going on behind closed doors, and then what? You won’t be able to control him, Jax. And you definitely won’t be able to trust him to do anything he says he’s gonna do. How can you willingly give any money to a guy like that?”

Jax just shook his head tightly. “That’s not for you to decide.”

“Alright, fine,” she shrugged easily. “Maybe you’re right. It’s not my decision. It’s not my money. But I have every right to draw a line in the sand with what I’m comfortable with and what I’m not, and this, Jax -  _ this  _ I am  _ not  _ comfortable with.”

Jax blew out a long, frustrated exhale, yanking a hand through his slicked-back hair and then shoved that hand back in his pocket. His face had just about turned to stone the longer he stood there in front of her, but she wasn’t budging. This was a hard, hard pass, and even if she could look past the bad business practices, there was no way she could look the other way at the rest of it - professionally or personally.

“I get all that, Allie,” he pushed out roughly. “I really do. But, I mean, at the end of the day, is this really all that different from Cara Cara?”

Allie huffed out a shocked laugh, shaking her head in disbelief. “It’s different, Jax. It’s different.”

“How? Because from where I'm standing, and where the club’s standing, it’s really not. There were similar problems with Cara Cara - all the fucking OSHA shit and the safety issues...how is this really that different?”

For a moment, she felt like the walls were closing in on her. She had half a mind to tip her head back and scream. Or just push past him and run away from all this - if she ran, she didn’t have to face it, right? She didn’t have to look him in the eye and actually have this conversation. Just a few days ago, things were going so well too, and now, here they were. Toe to toe with murder in their eyes.

That sure didn’t take long.

“It’s different, Jax,” she tried to keep her voice as even and measured as possible, but the glare in his icy eyes was making that really hard right now. “Because all the actors at Cara Cara were under a contract with terms they agreed to. Yes, they didn’t agree for that information about the testing and the other safety issues to be withheld from them, but they agreed to be at that studio, doing that job, with a clear expectation of what they were going to be doing there. They  _ consented _ , Jax. Those girls, in those backrooms, they are  _ not _ consenting. They don’t really want to be there, doing those things in those rooms. Luann was a lot of things, but at least she always made sure each actor knew what their scenes were going to be. She made sure they were comfortable with what they were going to be doing on camera well in advance. And if they weren’t, then they made changes to the script to accommodate that. We do the exact same thing at the studio.”

She paused there, wanting to make sure he was really  _ hearing _ her. She just needed him to  _ hear  _ her.

“Those girls have never really had that choice. They’ve been held down. Some of them have even run out of the room and then been brought back in. They’ve been coerced with money and are terrified of what will happen to them if they lose their jobs. Some of them are just too young to really understand what’s happening to them. They have no out. They have no protection. And Dominic King is at the center of all that. This is his business plan, Jax. Profiting off the abuse and rape of his employees. And if the club gets into business with him, you’re gonna be just as guilty. I could spend months scrubbing that place clean, and it wouldn’t matter because you won’t be able to control him. Just because we think we’ve put a stop to it, doesn’t mean he’s actually going to stop and you can’t trust him to do that. How in the hell are any of you gonna be able to sleep at night if you do this? I don’t know how  _ I’m  _ going to be able to sleep next to you at night if you do this.”

And there it was. There was really nothing more to say. It didn’t help, though, that Jax stared back at her with a scary mix of fire and ice in his eyes. It was that last part that must’ve gotten him - the part where she brought their relationship, or whatever  _ this  _ was into it. As far as she was concerned, she was well within her rights as whoever she was to him to tell him to his face that she might not be able to look at him the same way again if he allowed the club to go through with this.

Because it was true. If the club did this, she wasn’t so sure she’d be able to tow the party line. She wasn’t so sure she should be asked to.

“That’s all well and good, darlin’,” Jax drawled, rocking back on his heels with narrowed eyes pinned on her. “I can see why you’d take issue with all that, and I’m not sayin’ you’re wrong because you’re  _ not _ . But at the end of the day, I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to swing this the other way. And at the end of the day, you’re being paid by us to do a job, and we expect you do it if and when we ask you to.”

“Alright,” she nodded tightly. “And if the club asks me to do this, then I’ll quit.”

Jax’s jaw ticked into a hard line as he stilled in front of her.

“You’re not gonna quit,” he growled.

She just shrugged nonchalantly, digging her heels in even further. “Sure, I will. You can’t strong-arm me into doing something that I find morally and ethically disgusting. There’s no fucking way, Jax. I’m not doing it. And if you force my hand on this, I’m going to quit.”

Now, Jax’s lips curled back into a tight snarl as he took another step forward, crowding into her personal space a little more than she wanted at this particular moment.

Then he had the gall to shake a finger in her face. “You’re not gonna quit. We’ve already talked about why you can’t quit, Allie. We _need_ you to do your fucking _job_. And we’re not gonna talk about this anymore because it’s just not happening. And while we’re at it, darlin’, let’s make this clear right now that _you_ don’t dictate shit. You can advise us on what to do, you can make all the recommendations you want and write all the fucking reports you want, but you do _not_ tell me what I should and shouldn’t do at that table. We clear on that, _babe_?”

Her blood boiled, her fingertips itching at her sides to snap out and crack him across the face. That fucking asshole. Thinking he could speak to her that way...acting as if he somehow  _ owned  _ her and  _ controlled  _ her.

“Don’t talk to me that way, Jax.”

He just shrugged and cocked an eyebrow at her. “Pretty sure I can talk to you however I want.”

“Are you…” her eyes narrowed at him. “Are you  _ purposely  _ trying to antagonize me?”

His lips curled back again. “Are  _ you _ ?”

“No,” she snapped back. “I’m not. I’m just trying to tell you that you’re making a mistake, and if you were smart, you’d listen to me.”

Jax huffed out an angry, bitter laugh and shook his head. “You always gotta be right, don’t you?”

“You  _ pay  _ me to be right, Jax,” she threw up her hands in frustration. “You should want me to be right. I’m your goddamn attorney. I’m  _ supposed  _ to be right, otherwise what the hell are you paying me for? I know you want me to be wrong about this because you think that’s gonna be easier for the club and easier for you in the long run, too, but trust me, Jax, I’m not wrong. This is a bad deal, and the club should run away from this as fast as it can. I told my dad to do the same thing with Cara Cara and he didn’t listen to me either. The real difference here, Jax, is that the club took Cara Cara over when it merged with our studio. Luann lost all control, and we took over because we were not about to get into business with someone who had such a cavalier and reckless attitude toward her employees’ health and safety. So, the difference is that if you do this, Dominic King isn’t going away like Luann did. He’s gonna be involved in everything, every single day, in control of everything that goes on in that place, and even if you kept someone at that club every day to keep an eye on things, is that really something you wanna have to do? Is that really something you  _ should  _ do with a business partner you should supposedly be able to trust?”

Jax clenched his fists into tight balls at his sides, that hard line ticking down his jaw again. “While I appreciate your opinion here, you’ve said your peace, darlin’. This is where your role in this ends, and now the club will decide what to do. I get what you’re sayin’, I really do, but you’re not quitting on me. That’s just all there is to it.”

“Yeah, well,” she shot back a little too easily. “ _ You _ don’t get a say in that. Maybe I don’t want to work with people who are so blatantly willing to ignore my advice. Not to mention people who ignore that advice to get into business with someone who lets their employees get raped on a daily basis. I am well within my professional rights to draw a hard line at that, and that’s where I’m drawing the line.”

Now, his chest was heaving underneath that leather cut as he took another dangerous step forward so that they were almost literally toe to toe.

“You’re  _ not  _ quitting.”

“I don’t know what else to tell you,” she huffed back at him. “This is complete bullshit, and it’s not fucking fair.”

Jax’s eyes darkened dangerously. “Oh, I’ll tell you what’s not fucking fair. What’s not fucking fair is you threatening to quit on me without even giving me a shot at making this right. There’s gotta be a compromise here, Allie, and if you give me a goddamn minute, I might be able to find it.”

“I’m not interested in a compromise, Jax.”

“I’m not gonna let you quit.”

Allie lifted her eyebrows, meeting that challenge head-on. “Oh yeah? Well, I’m not gonna let you tell me what to do, you asshole.”

His eyes darkened again, even as his eyebrows lifted into his forehead. And when he dared to step even deeper into her personal space, she’d had enough. She shoved him hard in the chest, sending him jerking back, losing his balance for just a moment like he hadn’t quite anticipated she would go that far.

“So now I’m an asshole again, huh?” he murmured lowly, his lips curling back into another snarl as he shifted again to get in her face. “You drive me fucking crazy, you know that? Literally.  _ Fucking _ crazy.”

“Good!” she shot back hotly, giving him another push in the chest to force him out of her space again.

“So, I’m an asshole for reminding you that you have an obligation to do what the club asks you to do?” he barely budged when she just pushed him again, and this time, he leaned in so their chests were brushing up against each other, his haggard breath right in her face. “That makes me an asshole?”

“Yes, it does!”

His eyes dropped to her lips as he moved in even closer, his chest still heaving, his eyes still dark and icy. “Well, maybe I think you’re being a fucking bitch right now. How do ya like that?”

“That’s fine,” she threw back. “You can think I’m a bitch all you want. Doesn’t mean I’m not right, and it doesn’t mean that you still won’t be making a huge mistake.”

Jax tilted his head to the side, grinning at her mirthlessly. “And I thought I said  _ you  _ don’t dictate shit.  _ You  _ don’t tell  _ me  _ what to do at that table.  _ You  _ don’t order me the fuck around. And I think you’d better remember who’s working for who here, babe, and readjust your priorities before you say and do something you can’t take back.”

Something snapped in that moment. There were so many warring emotions flooding through her like a hurricane, because she was just as turned on by this whole stupid fucking thing as she was furious that he would even try to speak to her that way. With heat settling between her legs, and her body on fire, she reared back one more time to stand her ground.

“Fuck this,” she muttered. “I quit.”

His lips lifted in a sexy smirk as he tilted his head to the side just as one of his hands reached out to snake around her waist. 

“No fucking way,” he growled.

“Yes, I am!” she shoved him in the shoulder, forcing him to take his hand off her. “And you wanna know why? Because you’re not  _ listening  _ to me! If you would just  _ listen _ to me, goddammit, and hear what I’m saying -”

She didn’t get a chance to finish that particular rant because his lips crashed over her, slipping his tongue inside her mouth before she even had a chance to register what was happening. Her arms, like they had minds of their own, wrapped around his neck, digging in his hair to pull him as far in between her legs as her tight skirt would allow. And then she remembered herself, and yanked her mouth away, shoving him in the chest to put some physical distance between them. 

He stumbled back, catching one of his hands on the back of the chair in front of her desk to steady himself, his chest heaving, and his dark eyes slicing through her like knives.

“You’re not quitting,” he jabbed a ringed finger at her. “You’re just not.”

“Why?” she shot back. “Because you just told the club about us and now you’ll look like an idiot if I quit? Is that why?”

His nostrils flared dangerously as he dared a step closer to her. “You’re not quitting on me.”

“Oh, fuck you, Jax.”

“Yeah?” his eyebrows lifted suggestively as his lips curled into a smirk. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

Her hand flew out, cracking him across the face with a hard slap. God, that felt  _ good _ . So damn good. 

Jax stood frozen in front of her, his head turned to the side, and then he slowly turned his neck to face her again, his shoulders heaving underneath his leather cut and his nostrils flaring. His blue eyes had turned completely pitch black, and all she could do was stare back at him, her breath coming in and out ragged, her blood boiling, and her heart thundering in her chest.

They launched themselves at each other at the same time, as Jax lifted her up to pull her into his arms, and her arms locked around his neck, her hands tangling themselves in his hair. Jax bumped them into one of the chairs as he somehow managed to get them over to her desk, where they tumbled down on top of it. And her stupid skirt was just getting in the way, and she needed to feel his skin against her like she needed air, and she found herself pushing them back up from the desk so she was propped up on the edge, with him pressed as closely in between her legs as her skirt would allow.

Jax, following her lead, pushed himself up from her desk, his hands immediately grabbing for her turtleneck to yank it over her head.

“Get this fuckin’ thing off,” he muttered under his breath, and then he paused there, taking in the sight of her sitting in front of him on her desk wearing only her black and white plaid skirt and her black lacy bralette. His tongue darted out to his bottom lip as his chest heaved against his leather cut.

He reached out to run a hand over her breasts, and she shivered at his touch. His fingertips slowed at her nipples, running over them until they beaded underneath his touch, and he smirked down at her because he knew exactly what he was doing, knew exactly how this was affecting her, and knew exactly where this was going. And then his hands continued their trail down to her waist, where they tugged anxiously on her skirt, pulling and yanking until the tight material was bunched up around her hips. A second later, his hands snaked around her hips and skimmed underneath her skirt. When his touch toyed with the edges of her panties, Allie moaned into his mouth, unable to control herself any longer. 

Something shifted in his eyes. They grew sharper, darker...more intense. As his hands gently pressed into her hips to shift her backwards and give him better access, the air in her office thickened and heated from the pressure of his hands skimming her skin until his index finger hooked around the edge of her panties. When his thumb brushed that hypersensitive spot, a desperate moan slipped from her throat.

Jax didn’t miss a beat, tugging her panties all the way down and tossing them over his shoulder. Just that touch alone, she could feel it building and tightening around her until her toes curled around the edge of the desk, her breath stuttered in her chest, leaving her so wet she could feel the moisture brush against the inside of her thighs. 

And then there was just no stopping it. In a frenzy, her hands shot out to his belt, unbuckling it with trembling fingertips, making quick work of the button on his jeans, and then he helped her with his fly, shoving his jeans down to his ankles. His lips took possession of her mouth again, giving and taking, their tongues tangled around each other, as she finally felt his skin press up against her, right in that sweet spot, right where she wanted him to be.

Somewhere in this haze, she remembered, and murmured in his ear, “Jax, condom.”

“ _ Shit _ ,” he exhaled, diving back down to his jeans around his ankles and digging through a pocket for his wallet. Then he shot back up a second later, tearing the foil package open with his teeth, and sheathing himself before tossing the empty package haphazardly on the desk next to her.

He stepped in closer just as her fingertips groped helplessly for his shirt to pull him into her, needing him closer, just needing to  _ feel  _ him,  _ finally _ . With his eyes locked on her, he waited until he saw her nod, and then he lifted a hand to her neck, dropping his other hand to her hips to yank her up against him. And then, as her heart pounded in her chest, he slipped inside her in one hard, purposeful thrust.

Allie’s lips parted on impact, her head falling back against her neck, and then when her chin tilted back, their eyes collided again. All the breath in her lungs left her body. His black eyes pinned her right to that desk, a hard line ticking down his jaw as he moved inside her, grinding her hips against him for that sweet friction. His touch seared everywhere at once, on her hips, on the backs of her thighs, ghosting over her breasts and lingering over her nipples. Every touch seared through her skin. Every kiss set her body on fire and threatened to consume her. 

Somehow, someway, the slick heat between them turned into something else as she clung to the back of his neck for dear life, and as his movements became more desperate, more stunted, more rough. It wasn’t just two bodies sliding and taking. Their eyes locked and her heart plummeted into her stomach. This was something else. 

His breath came in and out in stunted halts and as her hands drifted down to feel the hardened muscles in his chest, his eyes flitted shut, his muscles jumping at the contact and suddenly he was pulling her in deeper, wrapping his strong arms around her, protecting her, taking her, possessing her until there was nothing else but his eyes and his hair falling into his face and his hands drifting from her cheeks to her hips, and his lips capturing hers, owning her, loving her, finally showing her what it was like to feel wanted and loved and owned in the best way. All she could feel and touch and taste was all of him all at once. 

There was no disconnect. No part of them that wasn’t touching. That wasn’t mated. Even their skin seemed to be an extension of the other, scorching from each brush, each drag of heady heat and friction and there was nothing else. This was everything she’d ever wanted. Connected at the most raw, primal level and her head fell back, dizzy with all the swirling sensations and emotions churning through her entire body. 

With his face shoved against her neck, his breathing coming in and out in ragged mouthfuls, he carried her away, lost in the movements between them, lost in the heat, until the waves crashed against her, catching her in the undertow and tossing and turning around her. She cried out only once, a raspy hoarse sound from her throat and then, a second later, his entire body stiffened, his mouth opening and closing around the side of her neck as he trembled against her.

And then, somehow, she floated back down to earth. Jax was still inside her, and when he started to gently pull himself away, she clung to the back of his neck, just needing to feel him again, overcome and overwhelmed with this whirlwind of emotions she was caught up in again. With his arms still locked around her hips, his forehead dropped to her shoulder as his chest heaved against his leather cut. Finally, he jerked his head off her shoulder so he could look her in the eye.

What she saw them in nearly knocked her off the desk. His blue eyes were swimming, glimmering with something that looked and felt familiar. His lips parted as he sucked in a breath as he reached up to push some stray hair out of her face so he could lean in and seal his mouth over hers. And when he eased himself out of her, she sucked in a harsh breath at the loss of him. The weight of him. The feel of his touch against her bare skin, of his tongue dancing with wild abandon inside her mouth...it all sent a strangled moan of agony down her throat.

They were silent as she reached for her turtleneck and pulled it back over her head, and he got rid of the condom, pulled his jeans back up to his hips and tucked himself back inside his boxer briefs. Then, with a harsh laugh, he reached down to scoop up her panties in one hand, and knelt down to slide them back up her legs, tugging them gently over the parts of her that she’d exposed bare to him, and then he tugged her skirt back down over her hips, running his hands down her thighs to smooth the fabric. 

They stared back at each other then, with their chests heaving a little unsteadily, and Allie wondered if this was what it felt like to feel the earth move. To feel like, in just one moment, one encounter, the entire world could tilt on its axis, the stars could fall from the sky, left could be right, right could become left, up was down, and nothing would ever be the same again. Everything had changed.

She’d known this would happen, but she was not prepared for the moment she let her eyes drift back up to Jax Teller and felt that invisible string unfurl from around her heart and wrap itself around him.

There was no going back now. If she could live in this moment for the rest of her life, she’d do it in a heartbeat. So, she swallowed hard, memorizing the softness of his blue eyes, the lazy goatee on his chin, the edge of his jaw, the way her hands had rumpled his blonde hair, the rough touch of his calloused fingertips on her skin, the heat that still left a trail between them...she wanted to remember it all. Because she knew she was never going to feel this with anyone else ever again. From now on, there would only be him.

And then, her head caught up to her heart. And her head screamed for space. For clarity. For just a fucking minute. This was too much too soon. She was feeling too much,  _ so  _ much, and now she was caught in that undertow again, flailing in the deep end without a life preserver. She hadn’t wanted... _ this  _ like  _ this  _ right at  _ this  _ moment. She hadn’t been ready to get knocked off her equilibrium this way, just hadn’t been prepared for the impact and the aftershocks.

She was shaken to her core.

So much that her hands started trembling and tears pricked her eyes. She knew what this was - this feeling. This overwhelming sense of  _ this _ . This whirlwind that had just eclipsed every single plan she’d ever had for herself, every single thing she’d ever thought about who she was and what she wanted.

She was falling. Hard. So fast. And now, she felt herself bracing for the impact.

So, she did the only thing she could do, flailing for that life preserver and that self-preservation.

“I think you should leave,” she murmured hoarsely, unable to bring herself to look him in the eye.

Jax stilled in front of her, his blue eyes panicked and wide as he dipped lower to get a better look at her. “What?”

She nodded to herself, sliding off her desk and pushing away from him so she could retreat to the safety of the other side of her desk, where there was at least a little more distance between them. God, she just needed a minute.

“I think you should leave,” she repeated softly, backing away from him as far as her feet could take her.

He held out a hand cautiously, his chest heaving again and his eyes wide. “Allie -”

“Jax, you need to leave.”

“We need to  _ talk _ about this.”

“No, we don’t. Not right now. I just...I need some space, Jax. I need a minute. Just give me a minute, okay?”

He shook his head furiously, keeping one hand out in front of him as if to silently talk her out of bolting from him, and he stepped around the side of her desk to close the space between them. When he reached for her arm, she jerked out of the way, and reached for her heels, batting his hands away as she pulled her heels back on and grabbed her purse from a drawer in her desk.

“Fine, I’ll leave then.”

She turned on her heel to head toward the door, only to be reeled back in when he gripped her hand, desperately pulling her back to him.

“Please, Allie, don’t walk away from me right now. Not like this, okay? Let’s just...let’s take a minute, like you said, and then let’s talk about this.”

Right now, that seemed like the worst idea in the history of terrible ideas. She couldn’t talk to him  _ now.  _ Couldn’t dare admit what she was feeling to his face and in this moment. She just didn’t have the capacity for it - her mind just couldn’t wrap itself around what had happened here. The whole thing from start to finish...what the hell had just happened?

“I have to leave now, Jax. And I don’t want you to follow me. I just need some space. Please...just give me a minute.”

Hot tears pricked her eyes again and she couldn’t stop them. He saw them instantly, rearing back like he’d been burned.

“Are you…” Jax whispered harshly, his face twisting with desperation, gripping her more tightly now. “Are you fucking  _ crying _ right now?”

“No,” she shook her head furiously even as a tear slipped down her cheek. “I’m not.”

“Allie,” he exhaled hoarsely. “Please. Don’t walk away from me right now. I’ve never…” he swallowed tightly, and squeezed his eyes shut, “I’ve never felt that with anyone before. I’ve never...baby, you can’t walk away after something like that. You can’t just fucking walk  _ away _ from me.”

She shook her head, gripping her purse in her hand and jerking her arm free of his grasp. “Yes, I can. You can’t tell me what to do, Jax.”

Jax’s face twisted like he was in physical pain, and his hands groped for her again but she just batted them away as she reached for the door. His fist shot out to slam the door shut, keeping her firmly in her place, and she sliced her eyes up to him. Every possible emotion seemed to tick across his painfully handsome face at once. Annoyance. Confliction. Desire. Regret. Fear. Love. They were all there on full display. And she just needed a minute.

“I’m leaving, Jax. I need some space, and you need to let me have it.”

“How much space do you need?” he murmured tightly, his blue eyes swimming.

She just lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know.”

He blew out a deep breath before banging his head into the door. Then he jerked his head up to pin her with determination in those blue eyes. “If you walk out this door, Allie, I’m gonna follow you. You know I will. I’m not gonna let you quit on me.”

Before she even knew what she was doing, she leaned into him, wrapping an arm around his neck to press her lips against his mouth. He reacted instantly, his arms locking around her waist to yank her against her chest, clinging to her like his life depended on it, his mouth taking possession of hers hungrily to brand her, to claim her, to make sure she knew he wasn’t letting her go.

Then she gently pulled away so she could press their foreheads together.

“I’m not quitting on you. I just need some space right now.”

And then she pushed him in the chest to give herself some space, to give herself some room to run, murmuring to him, “If you follow me, Jax, I will  _ never  _ speak to you again.”

His blue eyes widened with shock, flooding with desperation and panic, but he let her open the door, step out into the hallway, and close the door behind her.

Then she ran down the hallway as fast as her high heels could take her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - Whew! Lots to unpack, huh?
> 
> I'll see you on Sunday for chapter three of Witness Protection, and then next Wednesday for the next chapter of this one - there's definitely going to be some fall-out for everything had happened. Allie needs her space, and Jax is going to give it to her (as he should after the BS he said to her, lol). But no worries...they're not broken up. They had a bad fight, as all couples do, and they'll work it out - it'll just take a little time to get there, not to mention that this vote on the King deal is still looming over them too. 
> 
> Anyway, thank you to everyone who's stuck with this story! I can't wait to hear your thoughts on this one!


	24. Chapter Twenty-Four

Allie filled up her coffee cup again, now officially on her third cup before 11:00, but seeing as how she hadn’t slept at all the night before, she figured this was going to be the only thing keeping her upright today. She cast Tig, who was on her bodyguard detail during work hours, a wary glance, and he shot her a tight grin. He hadn’t been exactly _friendly_ today, but things could always be worse. Chibs was around here somewhere on their usual security patrol, and he did not look particularly happy when they’d crossed paths in the hallway earlier this morning - in fact, his face had just about turned to stone when he saw her. She’d take forced congeniality over blatant hostility any day. 

She was more nervous about the fact that Tig had told her Juice would be on the evening night watch until a prospect showed up for what he’d called  _ graveyard duty _ . Given their conversation only the day before in the parking lot, she didn’t exactly like the idea of him sitting outside her house for hours.

Tig trailed after her as she headed back toward her office, and he settled outside in a chair when she closed the door behind her.

And even though she had a mountain of paperwork to get through today, she had a feeling none of it was getting done today. It wasn’t just the fact that she hadn’t slept all night. It was the radio silence that was killing her. Torturing her. Agonizing her.

Jax was doing exactly what she’d asked him to do. He hadn’t followed her. He hadn’t shown up at her house last night asking to talk to her - it made her sick to her stomach to think about how much she’d wanted him to show up last night, even if it  _ was  _ just to rehash their fight. And he hadn’t called. Hadn’t texted.

But she’d told him she needed space. She’d told him she needed a minute. He was just doing what she’d asked him to do.

That didn’t make her eyes burn any less.

She missed the way his eyes sparkled when he smirked at her. Missed the way his touch felt on her body. Missed the feeling of his skin against her skin. Missed the feeling of his strong arms around her, protecting her, claiming her, loving her. She just missed him, and she needed him just as badly.

They needed to talk. They needed to work this out before too much time passed. Because it  _ could  _ be worked out, if they just talked about it like rational adults.

So, before she could talk herself out of it, she swiped her phone off her desk, scrolled to his number, and shot off a text:

_ I took my minute and I’m ready to talk when you are. Thank you for giving me that space. _

There. That was calm, and measured, and adult, right? The last thing she wanted to do, or to be, was an irrational, damaged, over-analyzing perfectionist about this.

But then the problem was that two hours passed, and he still hadn’t responded. She glanced at her phone for the 100th time in the last ten minutes, and  _ still _ no response. 

She’d been the one to walk away, even though he’d all but got down on his hands and knees and begged her not to leave. That had been a mistake. An epic, epic mistake. She shouldn’t have run away from him like that. If she had to do it over again, she would’ve just gone to the bathroom, taken an actual minute to collect herself, and then went back to her office to really  _ talk _ to him and tell him how she was feeling about everything.

But she’d needed real physical space. Real time and distance, and while everything that happened leading up to it was still really upsetting, not to mention infuriating, to her, she wished, with everything she had, that she’d handled it differently. Maybe it was fair to assume he needed a little space right now too, and that he’d respond to her when he was ready.

Tears pricked her eyes when his desperate face flickered across her mind. If  _ she  _ had freaked out yesterday, she didn’t want to think about what must be going through his head right now. If he was wondering if he’d made a huge mistake in telling the club about them, if he was wondering if he’d just made a huge mistake with  _ her _ , in letting it go too far, too soon, or in letting it happen at all.

They  _ had  _ gone too far yesterday, right here in this office. She swallowed hard as her eyes fell right to that spot, where she’d been propped up on the edge of desk with Jax in between her legs, having the most earth-shattering sex she’d ever experienced in her entire life. At least she could be sure she hadn’t been the only one whose entire world had been smashed. Not that it made her feel any better right now.

And at the end of the day, all of this could just be completely irrelevant anyway. Because if the club moved forward with this King deal, there was  _ no way _ she was moving forward with the club. Time and space had changed her mind on how she’d handled the situation, but it hadn’t changed her mind or her position on this deal with King.

She wasn’t quite ready to think about what that meant for her relationship with Jax yet.

Allie glanced at her phone one more time, and still with nothing, she just tossed her phone in her purse once and for all so she couldn’t even see it out on her desk anymore.

Just as Allie picked up one of those stacks of papers - she was really starting to strongly consider asking Piper to up her hours at the office - she heard some murmuring from outside her office. From her vantage point, one of the voices was obviously Tig, and the other sounded a lot like -

Loud knocking echoed from the other side of the door, and before she had a chance to even open her mouth, Gemma poked her head through the office door.

Well, at this point, if there was  _ one  _ thing she really wasn’t ready for, it was probably this.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Gemma waved at her brightly as she stepped deeper inside the office. “How’s it goin’ today?”

Allie’s lips parted, but she was still too thrown off-balance to really know how to tread here. There were so many different reasons Gemma could have decided to show up here today it wasn’t funny, and all of those reasons had to do with either Jax or her dad. Maybe both.  _ Probably _ both.

“Hey, Gemma,” she started uneasily. “It’s going okay. How are you?”

Gemma grinned back at her, hitching a hand on her hip. “Never been better, sweetheart. Hey, you had lunch yet?”

Allie frowned, completely caught off guard by that last part. “Did I have lunch yet?”

“Yeah,” Gemma shrugged easily. “If you haven’t eaten yet, I’d like to take you out to lunch, if you’ve got the time today.”

Good God, how was she going to get out of this? Well, there really  _ was  _ no way out. And then she heard Jax’s husky voice in her head,  _ the only way out is through, baby. _

He was right. And so, she decided to just get through it.

“I haven’t gotten a chance to grab lunch yet, no.”

“Well,” Gemma grinned brightly. “Let’s go then.”

* * *

About 15 minutes later, Allie found herself sitting across from Gemma at a little cafe down the street from the studio. She clung to her glass of water like it was a life preserver as Gemma sipped away cheerfully on her bloody mary. Whatever her motivations were for this little outing, she was sure Gemma would show her hand eventually or, at least, part of her hand.

“You know,” Gemma tipped her chin to Allie’s water glass in a gesture that was painfully familiar, “I should probably apologize to you for that stunt I pulled at the clubhouse that day you brought over all of Jax’s paperwork.”

Although Allie knew exactly what Gemma was talking about, she decided to play along. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

Gemma smirked at her, tapping her own glass with her long, sharp nails. “Jax might’ve mentioned to me in passing after the fact that you don’t drink, and that I shouldn’t push drinks on you like that. So, I’m sorry, sweetheart. Had I known, I obviously never would’ve done that, but now that I know, it won’t happen again.”

Allie schooled her expression because that was a hell of a lot to unpack under pressure. She probably wasn’t really going to be able to sift through all that until later, when she was back in the safety and the solitude of her own office.

“Thanks, Gemma. I appreciate that, and I wasn’t upset with you or anything, just so you know. It just caught me off-guard, and I think Jax saw that.”

Gemma’s mouth curled knowingly and she nodded with an easy grin. “You talked to him yet today?”

She sucked in a deep breath. Gemma was obviously just going to steam right ahead, and Allie had no other choice but to stay on the train for as long as she could.

“No, not yet.”

Seeing as how he still hadn’t responded to her text from well over two hours ago, it was safe to say she might not talk to him at  _ all _ today.

“Yeah, I figured,” Gemma nodded grimly. Then, after dropping that on the table, she took a long drink before shooting her gaze back up to Allie. “He’s probably still passed out in his dorm. I checked in on him before I stopped over at the studio, and he was facedown with an empty bottle in bed with him.”

Allie exhaled slowly, measuredly, and then bit down on her bottom lip to keep her emotions in check. Well, maybe that explained why he hadn’t texted her back yet. But that was negated by the fact that he’d obviously self-medicated yesterday with a bottle, and that didn’t do anything to mitigate the guilt she already felt. Her heart ached at the thought of him passed out in bed right now, sleeping off a night of heavy drinking because of the fight they’d had and everything that had followed it. If Gemma was here to make her feel worse about everything, then she was succeeding.

“He was  _ alone _ ,” Gemma added pointedly. “In case you were wondering.”

Allie smiled back weakly. “I wasn’t.”

“Good,” Gemma grinned. “Apparently, there was some, uh,  _ excitement  _ at the clubhouse last night. I heard from one of the prospects that Jax had already been parked at the bar in the clubhouse for a few hours, nursing more than a few beers and was working on a bottle of Jack, when Piney made the mistake of sitting down next to him and making a comment about  _ you  _ of all people. Now, I’m not quite sure what was said between the two of them, the prospect was pretty tight-lipped about that - you know, those boys and their code - but the prospect did mention that within a few seconds, Jax had Piney in a headlock, threw him on top of the pool table and got one good punch in before he got pulled away. Piney got a punch in too, apparently, and then Ope stepped in to keep those two idiots separate for the rest of the night.”

Gemma paused for a moment there, waiting patiently as the waitress set their food in front of them, but by now, Allie had completely lost her appetite.

Then Gemma pushed out a long sigh, tucking some long dark hair behind her ear, “Look, sweetheart, I’m sure you’re aware by now that  _ I’m  _ aware of the development between you two - namely, that you’re his old lady now. I really wish one of you had decided to tell me yourselves, instead of me having to hear clubhouse gossip from a prospect, but I understand that it was more important for the club to know first. And I gotta say, I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner, but that’s on the two of you, not me.”

Allie huffed out a laugh, more than a little relieved that it was starting to look like Gemma was more upset about the way she’d found out, not necessarily that they were together in the first place. If they were even really still together. She supposed time would just have to tell about that. Right now, with Gemma sitting across from her, she’d just have to operate under the assumption that they were.

“I’m sorry about that,” Allie told her a little sheepishly. “We’d been trying to keep it quiet and -”

Gemma’s loud laughter cut through what she’d been about to say, and then she just shook her head. “Oh sweetheart, you two weren’t fooling  _ anyone _ , let alone me with that little act at the wrap party last week. I could see it from a mile away, and I’m sure the rest of the club, and anyone else in your path, could too. Besides, all anyone had to do was take one look at you two anytime you were around each other and it was pretty clear where things were headed. You had a pretty good poker face most of the time, but my son has a tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve when it really counts. I don’t know why you even bothered to try.”

“Me either,” Allie grumbled.

And then Gemma shocked her by reaching out to cover Allie’s hand with hers. “I’m not saying I’m not happy about this development, okay? I’m  _ not  _ happy you chose to hide it from me, but I guess I’m just gonna have to find a way to get over it. My son has been a different man these last few weeks, hell, these last few months, and the only thing I have to thank for that is you. When he got out of Stockton a few months ago, I wasn’t sure I’d ever really get him back - he just wasn’t the same, like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. And maybe he still does, but now he’s got you to help him with some of that weight and I couldn’t be more grateful, sweetheart. You’ve made him happier than I’ve ever seen him. You’re makin’ him live again, and to me, that’s cause for celebration.”

Allie’s lips lifted. “I could probably say the same thing about him.”

“Yeah,” Gemma tilted her head to the side with a small smile. “I think so too. That being said, I think we both know that kind of tension in the clubhouse isn’t good for anybody. It’s not good for you in this new role, it’s not good for Jax and for the way he needs to be viewed inside that clubhouse, and it’s definitely not good for the rest of the club to have members at each other’s throats like that. Piney’s an old bastard - everyone knows that - and if he ran his mouth about you, then Jax was within his rights to lay him out. But that doesn’t mean that’s good for the club, or you, or Jax.”

That was all well and good. And she understood exactly what Gemma was saying. But try as she might, she couldn’t get past the mental image of Jax with Piney in a headlock, slamming him into the pool table and punching him before getting pulled away. That sounded  _ pretty  _ familiar. And once again, she was hearing about it after the fact, this time secondhand no less. He was clearly willing to tell the whole club that she was his old lady, to put it all out in the open with them and lay it all out on the line, with the risk of consequences they probably couldn’t even begin to contemplate, and now getting into yet another fistfight in defense of her honor, but she was still the last to know. The last to really see it. If he was even willing to show it to her in the first place. Would he ever bother to even say it out loud around her, let alone show it to her?

In spite of everything that had happened between them recently, Allie couldn’t help but feel annoyed and frustrated by that.

“I understand, Gemma.”

That was really the best she could do right now.

Gemma nodded, pressing a tight smile to her lips. “I’ll go out on a limb here and just assume you and Jax had some kinda fight? I’m not tryin’ to stick my nose in your business or anything, but seeing as how he just told the club you were his old lady yesterday and then crashed at the clubhouse last night, instead of elsewhere, I can only assume somethin’ happened.”

“You’re not wrong to assume that,” Allie allowed tightly. “We did get into a fight. It was a pretty bad one, and Jax and I haven’t spoken since.”

“I figured,” Gemma nodded again. “You don’t gotta get into the details if you don’t want to. Your business is your business. Now, I can’t even begin to wrap my head around how confusing this all must be for you - working for the club, being in a position to give advice, and now as an old lady, there are certain lines you just can’t cross. I don’t know where that balance is, Allie. I wish I did so I could tell you, but I think that’s just something you and Jax have to work out for yourselves. And I know you will, because I know how he feels about you and how you feel about him, so I think it’s just a matter of time, sweetheart. The whole thing - you just gotta give it some time. Let things cool off because it’s obviously real hot right now in that clubhouse. Keep your distance for now, if you can, unless you gotta be there for business. Don’t shove it in their faces, at least not until everyone’s had some time to make their peace with it. That’s the best advice I can give.”

Allie exhaled slowly again, blowing out a heavy sigh. Gemma was right - in fact, that was probably the best advice anyone could really give her right now, provided that Allie was even still in a relationship with her son.

“Yeah, I think you’re right.”

“Of course, I am,” Gemma chuckled. “That’s why I’ve got another family dinner planned for this week -”

“Gemma,” Allie cut in, unable to hide the surprise and the irritation in her voice. “You  _ literally _ just said that I needed to let things cool off and keep my distance. How is that not shoving it in anyone’s faces?”

Gemma just lifted a shoulder. “I said to keep your distance from the clubhouse for a while. I never said anything about keeping your distance from  _ my  _ house.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Well, your choices are to show up or not show up, although I know which one will end better for you and which one won’t.”

At this point, there was no point in arguing with her. Not like Allie would ever really want to argue with Gemma. The woman was definitely the one person she would never want to debate and would certainly never want to piss off.

“Wow,” Allie sighed. “Alright. I guess I’ll be there then.”

“Good,” Gemma grinned brightly. “You’re welcome to come early and help me get the table ready to go. Lyla and Piper will probably be there early too. I’ll finish my grocery list and let you know what I need you to bring. I already texted Dan about it too.”

Holy shit, this woman was just non-stop with the emotional warfare. So now, if they couldn’t work out their issues before the next family dinner, they’d find themselves in a wild reversal of the situation they’d found themselves in at the wrap party: having to pretend everything was fine between them when it wasn’t. And that was not a part she wanted to play.

“You know,” Gemma was saying now. “I had an ulterior motive in taking you out for lunch today.”

Allie huffed out a laugh. “Really? I hadn’t guessed.”

Gemma cocked an eyebrow at her, a sly grin slipping up her face. “I really came to your office today to see your dad.”

And then Gemma just let her sit with that. She just dropped it, and then leaned back in her chair to see how Allie reacted. It was very, very difficult to keep a calm, cool, and collected expression on her face right now.

“I see.”

Gemma’s grin just widened. “Your dad and I have been seeing each other a little bit these last few days and I’d like to keep doin’ it - you know, literally. But, seeing as how you’re now my son’s old lady, and me messin’ around with your dad might create some problems for you, and probably Jax too, I just wanted to see where you landed on that.”

Allie leaned forward in her chair a little, narrowing her eyes. “Gemma, are you...are you asking me for permission to have casual sex with my dad?”

“Yeah,” Gemma laughed. “What can I say? He’s never gonna replace what I lost, but I have a lotta fun with him, and it’s been a really long time since I’ve had that kinda fun, and I’d like to keep havin’ that fun too.”

At this point, Allie was just ready to throw her hands up on this whole thing. And then she remembered.

“Is he coming to family dinner this week?”

Gemma just lifted a shoulder. “I guess that’s up to you. If that’ll make you uncomfortable, then I’ll ask him to sit family dinners out for a while. I guess we’d really be stretching the definition of  _ family  _ then, huh?”

“Oh boy,” Allie ran a hand over her face and then shook her head. “You know what? You guys are both consenting adults. You don’t need my permission to do anything. Is it weird?  _ Yes _ . It’s weird for me. It really is. And I can’t make any promises about where my comfort level with this is gonna be at any given time, but Gemma, you’re entitled to heal however you wanna heal. If my dad makes you happy, and if you like spending time with him, then who am I to tell you that you shouldn’t?”

Gemma opened her mouth to respond, a soft smile playing on her lips, but was interrupted by the ping sounds coming from inside Allie’s purse. Allie frowned, wondering what was happening back at the office that someone needed to try to get a hold of her during her lunch break, and she slipped her phone from her purse to glance at the screen.

Her heart stuttered in her chest, warming her body and sending a flush right to her cheeks.

It was a simple, frank response, but it was a response:  _ Vote’s tomorrow. Can we talk after that? _

She didn’t hesitate to respond, glancing covertly at Gemma as her fingers flew over her screen.

_ Sure. _

And, not even a moment later, he replied:  _ Sounds good, baby. _

Tears pricked her eyes and she swallowed back the lump in her throat at the sight of that three-word response on her screen. She’d hurt him yesterday - she knew that. He’d hurt her too - and he had to know that. But renewed hope floated through her with the knowledge that maybe they hadn’t hurt each other so badly that they’d severed beyond repair. This could be fixed. This could be worked out. 

The only way out was through.

So, she glanced up at Gemma with a soft smile. “Hey, Gemma, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, sweetheart.”

Allie took a second, trying to figure out the best way to word this, but in the end, she just let it fly. “I have no idea what it means to be the old lady of an MC president. Sorry, I guess that’s not really a question. I guess what I’m really trying to say is that I have no idea what I’m doing, you know? With the role Jax has in the club, I just don’t know what that means for  _ me _ . Once everything cools off, like you said, I know there are certain expectations, but I’m not really sure what those expectations are.”

And in the end, there was no better person to have this conversation with than the woman sitting across from her.

Gemma nodded slowly. “You talked to Jax about this?”

“No,” she shrugged helplessly. “But even if I asked him, I’m not so sure he’d know what to tell me. He’s never been the old lady of an MC president before, you know?”

That seemed to make Gemma consider this a little differently, and her head tilted to the side in thought. “I see what you’re sayin’. I guess I’m the only one with that kinda resume, huh?”

“Sure,” Allie laughed.

Gemma nodded slowly again, a smile creeping across her face. “I understand you’ve got some worries, some concerns, some things that need to be cleared up. But if you’re worried you won’t be able to fit into this new role, then you’re wrong.”

Allie’s lips parted to respond, but Gemma just held up a hand to silence her.

“I wish you’d been able to see yourself last week at the clubhouse - when we were all holed in there after everything that went down at the wrap party. Sweetheart, you’d already stepped into that old lady role, the role of the president’s old lady, specifically, by doing exactly what you did. You took charge, you were telling the prospects what to do, telling Lyla what to do - which, I know that might be hard for you at first, but that’s her role too as Ope’s old lady. You rank higher than her, and that’s just the way it is. Now, I saw you walking around with that coffee pot in your hand, taking care of everyone, making sure everyone was okay and had what they needed. Didn’t you see Jax doing the exact same thing too? You both had a responsibility that night to make sure everyone was alright, and you met that challenge head-on, without even knowing you were doing it. It was just like second nature to you, sweetheart, and it was a wonderful thing to see.”

Gemma let her sit with that for a moment before charging right ahead.

“I know it might take you a little longer to really feel comfortable with everything, but you’ve got nothing to worry about. And I know you know you can always talk to me about anything - any questions you have, anything you’re not sure about, that’s what I’m here for. Now, the best advice I can give about being the old lady to the club president is this: if everything’s good at home, everything will be good at the clubhouse too, you know what I’m saying? Look what happened last night - you two had a fight and then there were problems at the clubhouse. I’m not saying it’s your fault. You’re allowed to get into fights and disagree and have issues that need to be worked out. You just need to be aware that your life with Jax, in your house, in your bedroom, that bleeds over into your lives at the clubhouse too. People will pick up on it faster because people will be watching the president and his old lady more closely than they would anyone else. Now, I have no idea what that means for you in your role as the club’s lawyer. That’s for you, Jax, and the club to work out, I guess.”

Allie blew out a deep breath and glanced down at her hands, only to feel one of Gemma’s hands close over the top of them.

“Sweetheart, you just gotta make sure he feels like a man when he’s at home with you. You know what I mean? I’m sure you like when he makes you feel like a woman, and you gotta do the same for him. He’s your man, right?”

Allie felt her heart clench in her chest as she nodded.

Gemma’s lips lifted in a smile. “Then all you gotta do is make sure he feels like one when he’s with you, and everything will be just fine.”

* * *

At this point, Allie had just given up on the idea that she’d ever sleep again. It was still early-ish at 9:00 pm, but since Dan still wasn’t back from the studio, she was completely on her own with nothing to do but drink coffee and watch  _ The Golden Girls  _ without him. It’s not like she had a prayer of getting to sleep tonight either. She leaned back on the couch with her coffee mug in hand, and squeezed her eyes shut.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this  _ alone.  _ This  _ isolated _ . This cut off from everything and everyone. Before Jax came crashing into her life, she was always fine with this kind of solitude. She’d liked the quiet and the freedom that came with it. The ability to do whatever she wanted without having to answer to anyone or explain herself. She’d never really had much time or energy to do much else other than eat takeout and watch TV with Dan anyway.

But over the course of this whirlwind she’d found herself caught up in, it was amazing how quickly that mentality had shifted. Suddenly, she’d wanted to be with Jax all the time. She didn’t want to be alone anymore, and she wanted to be with  _ him _ , specifically. She’d barely had any time to get used to that before it was ripped away.

And then, because she really had nothing else to do, she found herself carrying a coffee mug and a folder down her walkway toward the truck parked out on the curb. She hadn’t necessarily  _ planned  _ this when she found out he was on night duty, but she figured an olive branch couldn’t hurt. Besides, she’d made him a promise and she had every intention of following through on it.

Juice glanced up from his phone when he caught her movements in the front yard, and he frowned back at her from the driver’s side seat of the truck. He was still frowning at her when she waved at him through the driver’s side window.

With a wary eyebrow cocked her way, Juice lowered the window, and waited expectantly. “You need somethin’?”

Allie swallowed hard at his tone. It wasn’t necessarily cold or tense, but it wasn’t exactly friendly either. So, with a quick inhale for strength, she held out the coffee mug to him with a smile.

“I just made myself another pot and thought you might want a cup,” Allie told him easily. “I know you’ve got some time left on your shift before a prospect shows up.”

Juice eyed the coffee mug carefully, almost as if he was a little unsure what he was supposed to do here. It was pretty simple, at least she thought it was. Just take the coffee.  _ Please _ .

Finally, after a few awkward moments of indecision, Juice gingerly took the mug from her with a tight smile.

“Thanks.”

“No problem,” and then she passed him the folder through the open window. “That’s all the information I could find to answer your question. Have you gotten anything from the courts yet?”

Juice’s eyes widened in surprise even as he took the folder from her, and then he quickly shook his head. “No, not yet. I’ll text you that case number, though, as soon as I get it.”

“Good,” she nodded with as friendly a smile she could muster. “I did a little research into whether I could actually represent you whenever you have to go to court, and I mean, I’m not a criminal attorney, but I could do it. If you’d  _ rather  _ use an attorney that specializes in this, it’s totally your call. And, really, as your current attorney, my general advice would be to use an attorney who’s done this before, but like I said, I’m happy to help if you need me to.”

Whew. Even in her head, that sounded jumbled and rambling and just  _ not  _ the way she’d wanted it to sound. And for her, that was not a good feeling. She was a professional, she was the club’s lawyer, and she needed to keep her shit together. She was nervous though, and it wasn’t often she felt nervous when it came to doing her job.

Juice watched her carefully, and then flipped the folder open to skim its contents. She’d made sure to put the most important information to him right at the top, and then launched into the explanation.

“You’ll get a decent-sized fine, probably somewhere in between $600-$1200, depending on what your BAC comes back at. You’ll lose your license for a year and will only be able to have an occupational license - there’s no way around that, sorry. And in terms of jail time, it looks like there are few options with that. Most likely, though, we can probably get you house arrest, instead of actual time in a jail. That could be anywhere from 30 to 60 days, depending on what the judge decides to do.”

His eyes were still on the front page of the folder, but he was listening.

“I wish there was more I could do, but with this kinda thing, the sentences are usually pretty standard.”

“Got it,” Juice nodded tightly, shutting the folder and then holding it up to her. “Thanks for this. I really appreciate it. That makes me feel a little better actually - just knowin’ what to expect. I think I’m good with stickin’ with you through this, if you’re good with it. You’re the club’s lawyer, right?”

Allie swallowed hard. “Right.”

“Yeah,” he grinned. “You gotta earn that retainer somehow, huh?”

Her chest tightened a little at that, unsure if that was a joke, an insult, or somewhere in between. She had a feeling it was somewhere in between.

“That’s true,” she laughed shakily. “Well, that’s all I came out here for. Sorry to bother you.”

With that, there was nothing left to do but shoot him an awkward wave, turn on her heel, and walk back in her house, feeling like she wanted to slam her head against a wall. She’d tried. That was all she could do. One step at a time, one conversation at a time...that was all she could do.

She’d settled back into the couch for another episode after giving herself a coffee refill. There was no point in keeping track of how many cups she’d had at this point. It didn’t matter anyway - it’s not like she’d be sleeping tonight.

Just as Sophia Petrillo launched into one of her, “Picture it, Sicily, 1922,” speeches, she heard a light knock on her front door. Without hesitating, she picked up her phone, having learned long ago that it was better to be safe than sorry, and opened up the security app Juice had put on her phone when he’d installed that security system for her so long ago. Then she frowned at who she saw standing on her front porch, not to mention the fact that the truck that had been outside before was nowhere to be found.

She paused the episode, slid off the couch, padding over to the front door, and opened it. Juice was standing on the other side of it and sheepishly raised his coffee mug.

“Mind if I get a refill?”

Without hesitation, Allie opened the door even wider so he could step through the entryway. “Sure, come on in. Did you move the truck or something?”

“Yeah,” Juice lifted a shoulder as he stepped deeper inside the house with cautious steps. “We move the trucks around every once and awhile just so your neighbors don’t get weirded out and call the cops or somethin’ on us. I just parked down the street a little bit for now.”

She started heading toward the kitchen, with Juice trailing after her, albeit a safe distance away. After moving over to the coffee maker on the counter, she noted that Juice settled into one of the barstools on the island, almost as if he planned to stay there for a little while.

Allie silently filled his coffee mug, careful not to react when she noticed his mug was actually half-full, instead of completely empty, and topped off her own mug while she was at it. Juice took a sip from his mug, then set it down on the counter coolly, his face an impassive mask before his voice called out to her.

“Did you really threaten to quit over all this King shit?”

Allie froze in front of him, her mug stalled halfway up to her lips. She felt her eyes widen in surprise, but quickly schooled her expression. If they wanted to talk business, they could do that. Even if it was here, in her kitchen, in her house, over a cup of coffee.

“Where’d you hear that?”

Juice lifted his eyebrows warily, as if to say  _ really?  _ But he answered her anyway: “I might’ve heard Jax and Ope whispering about it last night before Piney sidled up to the bar and started acting like a complete asshole.”

“Yeah,” Allie sighed. “I heard about that.”

Juice nodded tightly. “Word gets around the clubhouse about things pretty quickly.”

She had to swallow hard at that. And then take a few breaths. She knew she had to be so careful here, but at the same time, she couldn’t imagine Jax would be very happy to know that Juice was in her kitchen, staring back at her with ice in his eyes right now, even if it  _ was  _ over a cup of coffee. 

“Well,” she offered. “I’m sorry that happened.”

He nodded tightly again, a line ticking down his jaw as he brought his mug up to his lips again. “Me too. That asshole should’ve known better than to poke the bear, especially since that bear was already knee-deep in a bottle of Jack. But, I don’t know, I guess he wanted to see what the prez would do, and now we know…” he trailed off, his eyes shifting down at the counter for a moment. “Anyone tell you what Piney said?”

Allie shook her head. She didn’t really trust her voice not to give out on her right now.

“Well,” Juice just lifted a shoulder. “You’re probably gonna hear about it sometime anyway. You might as well know...just don’t tell Jax, okay? He’ll come after me next if he finds out I told you.”

His dark eyes shifted expectantly to her, pinning her to the floor with a subtle warning she hadn’t expected. He was testing her, that much was clear. Testing to see how far he could push her, how much rope she was willing to give, how much information she was willing to offer up.

“Okay.”

Juice’s lips pulled apart in a slight grimace, as if he suddenly wasn’t so sure he really wanted to say it out loud anymore.

“It’s really okay,” she told him with a shrug. “My parents were porn stars, and I work full time at a porn studio. If I had a quarter for everytime someone said something stupid about me, or my parents for that matter, I’d be retired and living in Bali by now.”

Juice huffed out a laugh and ran a hand over his shaved head, still a little unsure. But then he just lifted a shoulder, and stated simply, “Piney walked over to Jax and asked him why he was sitting at the bar instead of at home with his lawyer pussy. Jax gave him a good shove, told him to watch his mouth, and then Piney got real dumb, and said,  _ I don’t gotta watch shit except the hours she’s clockin’ with you on our dime.  _ And then after that, Jax pretty much lost his mind and had the guy in a headlock before anyone could stop him. So, that’s what happened.”

“Huh,” Allie frowned, hitching a hand on her hip. “Lawyer pussy? That's a first for me. I’ve also never been accused of billing my hours for sex, and I work at a porn studio, so I guess that’s another first.”

Juice’s eyes narrowed just a touch, as if he was trying to decide if she was joking, if she was mad about all this, or if she was somewhere in between. Then, he huffed out another laugh, and shook his head.

“So, you never answered my question before. The one about you threatening to quit over all this King shit.”

Allie sucked in a deep breath. If they were going to go there, then they might as well just go there.

“I did threaten to quit.”

“Why?” he shot back a little too quickly.

“Are you asking if me threatening to quit is about me and Jax, or me and the club?”

He just lifted a shoulder, his impassive gaze never leaving hers. “It can be both, can’t it?”

“ _ Can _ it really be, though?” she laughed mirthlessly, shaking her head as she stepped up to the island and set her coffee mug down across from him. “I was kinda under the impression those things should be separate.”

But now, in light of everything that had happened, and the way they’d fought, it was becoming clearer and clearer that maybe there just was no hard line between being Jax’s partner and being the club’s lawyer. Those two things were probably always going to be blended in some way, whether she liked it or not, and like Gemma had said, there obviously needed to be some sort of balance. But what that was, and how to find it...she was flailing aimlessly on that one.

“Well, I’d say in this instance, it seems like things got a little personal for you too.”

Now, Allie narrowed her eyes back at him. “What do you mean by that?”

He just shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I can see why, as his old lady, you wouldn’t want Jax getting involved in anything that even remotely resembles a brothel.”

“I see,” Allie nodded tightly. Well, at this point, she might as well be honest. “And while that’s true - I can’t imagine any woman would actually  _ want _ that - I’m not  _ worried _ about that. Not with Jax. I haven’t been sitting here, wringing my hands and clutching my pearls about him hanging around a brothel or a strip club all day and wondering what he’s really doing there. That’s not my concern.”

“So what  _ is _ your concern then?”

She huffed out a harsh laugh, resting her palms against the counter to meet him in the eye. “My concern is the fact that those girls are getting abused and raped on a daily basis and their employer is not only allowing it to happen without giving them any sort of protection, he’s profiting it off it too. That’s my concern just as a human being. I told Jax last night that I didn’t see how any of you would be able to sleep at night if you went through with this, and I also told him I didn’t see how  _ I  _ could sleep next to him at night if you guys go through with this either. So, maybe I did bring our personal relationship into it, but professionally and personally speaking, I can’t work with people, and I can’t be with someone, who would willingly go into business with a person like that. That was true last night, it’s still true today, and it’s going to be true once you guys decide once and for all what you’re going to do about all this.”

Allie let him sit with that for a moment, noting the way his forehead had crinkled in thought.

“And, while we’re talking about it, my other concern is whether you’re actually going to be entering into a partnership with someone you can trust. I don’t believe for one second that after I go in there and clean everything up that he’s not gonna turn around and just keep doing the same thing, except now it’ll just be hidden from you. And then you  _ really _ won’t be able to control it. He might not start that right away, just to make you feel like everything’s all happy and good between you guys, but he will. Eventually, he’s going to feel pressure to deliver on your agreement and show you he’s making a profit with that expansion, and then he’s going to get desperate. And I can’t imagine the situation will be any better for those girls if it’s being kept under wraps like that. And then the club is roped into it, whether you want to be or not, because you’ll be partnered with him. You’ll be responsible for it too.”

She shook her head, huffing out a laugh at just how  _ stupid  _ this whole thing was, that they were even standing here,  _ still  _ talking about this, when it was just so simple to her.

“I just...I just can’t understand why any of you think this is really a good idea. We should be  _ reporting _ his ass, not trying to decide if you should still be going into business with him. There are so many other options there, I know we haven’t found them all yet - but they’re out there. The club doesn’t have to go into business with a guy like him just to make a quick buck. I don’t know, but to me, that seems like the exact opposite of what you’re trying to do. I mean, can you imagine what the community would think if all this happens the way I said it will, and everyone finds out the club is at the center of this? No one would ever want anything to do with the club ever again, and you’d have no one to blame but yourselves.”

And then because she just couldn’t stop herself, she added, “So, yeah, if the club goes forward with this, I’m going to quit. What’s the point of me working for you if you won’t listen to me?”

Juice rubbed a hand over his mouth in thought before resting his chin in his hand. He was silent as he reached for his coffee mug again, taking a few calm, measured sips from the mug before setting it back down again.

“So,” Juice offered quietly. “I think I can safely assume that the reason Jax was sitting at the bar last night instead of at home with you is...all those things you just said?”

Allie pushed out a heavy sigh. It was right on the tip of her tongue to thank him for the not-so-subtle reminder that every time Jax spent a night at the clubhouse, people would wonder if they were having problems. But at this point, she was too tired to care. 

“That was part of it, yeah. We had a pretty big fight about it last night.”

Juice immediately held up his hands. “Alright, alright. That’s your business - I shouldn’t have asked.”

“Well,” she laughed, shaking her head. “Aren’t you sort of within your rights to ask? I mean, I work for you too. You pay my retainer too. Don’t you have a right to know where my head is at with these kinds of things and if I’m letting my relationship with Jax color my advice to you?”

“I don’t know,” Juice shrugged a little uneasily. “You’re his old lady too. There are some things I don’t really need to know.”

“Right.”

“So,” Juice shrugged again. “Say you do quit. Where does that leave you and Jax?”

“I’m not sure,” she offered honestly. 

And that was the best she could really give him, because, while she wanted to work this out with him, if the club really did move forward, she wasn’t so sure she could continue to be with him after something like that. Her disappointment, her disgust, and her pride would end it immediately. And even if that  _ wasn’t  _ the case, she also wasn’t so sure she could really have any kind of responsibility and obligation as an old lady within the clubhouse after quitting, especially under those kinds of circumstances. It probably  _ wouldn’t  _ work, but maybe they could try. Try, and then probably fail.

But at least she could hope that someone at the table tomorrow would do the right thing.

And then her phone pinged from where she’d left it on the coffee table in her living room, and Juice just lifted a shoulder, signaling she was good to check her phone without being rude. She walked into the living room, sweeping her phone off the coffee table to check her screen. Just as she opened the security app to check her new notification, creaking sounds echoed from outside her front door, followed by some suspicious scratching.

Juice was at her side in a flash with his eyes right on her front door, and then she silently held up the security app to show him what was on the screen, namely the same scarred man who’d been sitting in that tan sedan with her mom. Juice’s eyes widened, and then he immediately started pushing her back toward the kitchen.

“Get back over there,” he whispered hoarsely. “And call Jax.”

With her phone firmly in hand, he gave her another quick shove back to the kitchen, waving for her to keep moving and to get the hell down, and as she moved back around the island, her phone started vibrating in her hand. She crouched down by the island as she swiped across her screen to answer.

“Allie, are you in the house? Where the fuck is Juice?” Jax’s panicked voice sounded through the phone.

“Juice is here,” Allie whispered. “I think that guy is trying to break in.”

“Just do whatever he tells you to do. We’re on our way.”

He hung up on her immediately after that, and she stayed crouched by the island in her kitchen, leaning over the side just enough to see Juice tiptoe around her front door, biding his time on the other side, until the door handle turned and the front door creaked open. That scarred man gingerly stepped through the front door and slowly shut the door behind him.

And then Juice pounced, launching himself at the man from behind and tackling him to the floor. The guy didn’t even stand a chance. Juice had him facedown on the floor, with his hands behind his back, in a flash, and then he was calling out to her:

“Allie, you got something around here I could tie him up with?”

She looked around frantically, racking her brain for what they could use, and threw him a kitchen towel for now, before she ran into the garage to grab the first thing she could find. When she sprinted back inside the house with a handful of zip ties she dug out from Dan’s stash of  _ work supplies _ , she skidded to a halt to see her mom standing about three feet away from Juice.

Luckily for everyone, Anna looked more like she was going to cry than anything as she fell to her knees next to her boyfriend, or whoever he was to her, on the floor, cradling herself around his body as if to create some kind of human shield around him.

By now, Juice had him secured to the floor, but she handed him the zip ties anyway. When his eyebrows lifted into his forehead, clearly surprised she just happened to have that lying around, Allie told him, “Don’t ask.”

But her eyes stayed locked on the human pile of misery on the floor as Juice made quick work of tying the scarred man’s hands more securely behind his back with one of the zip ties, and then he did the same thing to Anna, who didn’t even put up a fight.

“Mom,” Allie whispered hoarsely. “How could you do this to me? Did you really think you’d get away with it?”

Juice staggered back a little, putting some space between himself and the two people he’d just tied up on the floor, but he kept his foot firmly on the man’s back to keep him in place. Then he lifted sympathetic eyes to her as he shook his head with a heavy sigh.

Anna didn’t bother to answer her, instead choosing to cower even closer to her man, with tears streaming down her face. And they all stayed there like that, Anna and her man huddled on the floor with their hands tied behind their backs, Juice with his foot digging into the man’s back to keep him from moving, and Allie just stood frozen about 10 feet away, unable to bring herself to move any closer to this mess.

She waited, feeling like she was just holding her breath until she heard the loud rumble of motorcycles blasting down her street. It definitely sounded like there were more than just a couple, unlike last time. If that didn’t piss off her neighbors, she thought mirthlessly, then she didn’t know what would.

There were some loud voices coming from the other side of her front door, some pounding steps, and then the door crashed open as Jax burst through it, sprinting over to the two on the floor and launching himself at the scarred man before Juice barely had a chance to jump out of the way.

Jax didn’t hesitate, barreling down on the man with his fists flying, over and over again, so quickly and so viciously that Allie just stood frozen to the floor, unable to move, unable to look at anything but Jax beating the shit out of the man who’d just broken into her house. She’d always known Jax was capable of the kind of violence she’d only read about in books and seen on TV, but to see it firsthand, to see the visceral, primal movement of his fist pounding into another person’s flesh, for  _ her _ ...her chest tightened and burned as she watched, unable to bring herself to look away.

Finally, Opie yanked Jax back by the collar, grabbing hold of his shoulders to put some space between Jax and the scarred man, but as soon as Jax was off him, he shoved out of Opie’s grip, clearly not quite finished yet.

He was on the man again in a flash, gripping him by the front of his shirt to pull their faces closer together so Jax could lean in with a lethal calm.

“You really thought you could just break into my old lady’s house,” Jax snarled at him. “And I wasn’t gonna do anything about it? What did you think you were doin’ here, huh?”

Allie sucked in a harsh breath, her chest burning and rising and falling beyond her control.

Jax just leaned into the man even closer. “What were you gonna do once you got in here? Rob her? What else? What the fuck else were you gonna do?”

“We just wanted money,” the man sputtered helplessly. “That’s it. I wasn’t gonna try nothin’...”

“Uh huh,” Jax laughed bitterly. “I bet. So here’s what’s gonna happen, motherfucker, I plan on beating the shit out of you a little more because I wanna make sure it’s good and clear that if you ever step foot on this property again, you’re gonna find yourself deep inside a six foot hole. So we clear on that now,  _ bro _ ? Or do I gotta spell it out for you some more?”

The man trembled underneath Jax’s grip, and then shook his head. “We’re clear. We’re clear.”

“Good,” Jax nodded tightly, and then he glanced at Anna, his lips curling back into a snarl. “And  _ you,”  _ he stepped around the man so he could move in front of Anna, and jab a pointed finger in her face, “You don’t call her. You don’t text her. You don’t so much as  _ think  _ about even coming back into this neighborhood. I got no problems throwing you into the same hole as that piece of shit over there. And I do  _ not _ give a shit that you gave birth to my old lady, ” he leaned in to growl in her face, “It doesn’t absolve you, and it sure as shit doesn’t give you a free pass to get outta the same deal as that asshole over there. I hope you spend the rest of your fucking miserable life remembering this night. I hope it  _ haunts  _ you. Because this is the only chance you get. You test me, and I will fucking end you. You got that?”

Anna’s eyes widened the size of baseballs, and Allie noted grimly that not only was Anna trembling on the floor, but her soiled jeans now looked even more soiled. And Anna did the only thing she could, and she nodded furiously. Jax didn’t miss a beat, having seen whatever confirmation he needed to see, and then launched himself back on the scarred man, pummeling his fists into him until Opie finally tugged him away.

“Alright, brother,” Opie murmured. “You got him.”

Jax stumbled back, shoving himself away from Opie with his chest heaving against his leather cut and his battered fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. He glanced over his shoulder, as if suddenly remembering that she had to be around this house somewhere, and when Jax found her standing 10 feet away from him, his icy eyes softened. His lips lifted into a relieved smile and he swallowed tightly before nodding to her. Then he got back to the matter at hand, just as two prospects came through the front door.

“Prez, we got the van here now,” one of them was saying to Jax now.

He nodded quickly. “Alright. Make sure you pull into the garage first, and then move these pieces of shit outta here through the back hallway.”

The prospects jumped into action, each of them grabbing hold of her mom and the scarred man, and Juice and Opie joined in to make sure they got them out of there without a struggle, and without anymore conflict. And then the only people left in the house were Jax and Allie. She had a feeling the prospects, and anyone else who was at her house right now, weren’t going to be coming back inside.

So, just like that, it was all over.

“You alright?” Jax’s hoarse voice called out to her. He was watching her carefully, like he wanted to keep some distance between them but still wasn’t sure if that was a good idea, if he’d actually be able to hold himself to that.

She nodded, taking a small step forward to close the space between them. “I’m fine. They never came near me, Jax.”

With her chest still heaving and her heart tightening, Allie gingerly closed the distance between them. Jax didn’t move, his face twisted in pain, and some confusion and apprehension too, his blue eyes swimming with everything they still hadn’t said out loud, at least not to each other. Then, when she was finally close enough to touch him, she reached up and wrapped her hand around his neck to pull him closer, to lean into him and the comfort he gave her when he wrapped his arms around her waist to yank her against his chest. His lips moved to her forehead, and then he pressed his cheek into her hair, breathing her in.

She let herself have this for another few moments, basking in the feeling of his arms around her again, holding her, protecting her, loving her, and then she pulled away so she could tilt her face up to him.

Jax looked down at her, his eyes still swimming, and then he brushed some hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. That was all the reassurance she needed.

“I know we said we were going to talk tomorrow, and we should still do that,” Allie whispered. “But I just want to say right now that I shouldn’t have left yesterday. I’m still not happy about the reasons why we were fighting, but I should’ve pulled myself together and stayed in that room and  _ talked _ to you about it.”

He nodded slowly before pressing his face into her neck again.

“Yeah, well, pretty much every word outta my mouth yesterday was bullshit and it wasn’t fair to you. I can’t take that back, Allie, but I’m sorry for the shit I said...the way I  _ talked _ to you. I shouldn’t have done that, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive myself. Or fucking apologize to you enough.”

“Maybe we can call a truce for tonight?” Allie offered hopefully.

Jax huffed out a laugh, and squeezed his arms around her. “Sorry, baby, I left my white flag in my bike. You want me to go get it?”

“No,” she laughed, leaning up to brush her lips against his. “That won’t be necessary. Let’s hold all use of white flags until tomorrow.”

“Got it.”

“Do you think anyone’s coming back in the house?”

Jax just lifted a shoulder. “Nah. There’s nothing left to clean up. They probably figured their presence is no longer necessary now that I’m here.”

Allie smiled softly. “Well, that’s true. Where are you guys taking them...or do I not want to know?”

He blew out a deep breath, moving his hands down to rub her shoulders. “We’re gonna drop your mom off at the women’s shelter for tonight. If she decides to stay, at least we’ll know she’s in a safe place for the night. If she decides not to stay, then at least we can say we tried. And that guy? I told the prospects to just drop him off in a park somewhere. I don’t really care where that piece of shit ends up tonight.”

Her lips lifted again as she pressed her cheek into his chest again. “Thank you for being here.”

“Where else would I be, baby?”

She stood up on her tiptoes to press her lips against his mouth, slipping her hand around his neck in to pull him in even deeper. He didn’t hesitate, letting his tongue slip through her parted lips, his mouth moved over hers more intensely now, and he lifted her up until her toes left the floor, their bodies flush against each other.

When he set her back down on the ground, she murmured against his lips, “Are you staying tonight?”

Jax pulled back just enough to look down at her. “You want me to?”

She was still nodding when his mouth sealed over hers again, claiming her mouth and pushing his tongue through her parted lips. And then she had an idea - there was something she wanted to do. In light of everything that had happened today, and yesterday no less, she just had a sudden urge to do this that surprised her, but she didn’t want to push it down either.

Allie gently turned him in the living room so she had him backpedalling into the kitchen until his hips hit the side of the island. She could do this. There was no good reason why she couldn’t. Especially because she really  _ did  _ want to do this for him, even if she needed a little more courage. 

She reached for his belt buckle, lifting her eyes up to him, only to find him staring back at her with dark navy eyes, his chest rising and falling a little more rapidly than before.

“I want to do something, Jax.”

His lips parted but he just nodded silently, his eyes dropping to her hands as they undid his buckle, unbuttoned his jeans, and reached for his fly. And then his hooded eyes flew back up to her when she spoke again.

“I just need you to do something for  _ me _ while I’m doing it.”

His eyebrows lifted expectantly, and then he bit down on his bottom lip. She smiled slyly at him, feeling an overwhelming sense of power at the knowledge that she was, literally and figuratively, about to hold him in the palm of her hand. She could do whatever she wanted, and this dangerously handsome man would let her do it, no questions asked. 

She could get used to this feeling.

Allie reached up to cover his battered hands, which were currently resting on the counter behind him. “I need you to keep your hands right here, okay? Don’t move them.”

If he did, and if he put his hands in her hair, if he pulled her head down, if he  _ held  _ her head down, she might up and bolt on him again. And she never wanted to put either of them in that kind of situation again if she could help it. Running didn’t solve anything, and it had just made everything worse.

Jax’s eyebrows dipped lower for just a second, but luckily for both of them, he was obviously too turned on by this whole situation to think about it too much. She could do this, and she had a feeling she was about to enjoy every second.

Because at the end of the day, she trusted him. Any other time, when she asked him to do something, when she drew a line, maybe he walked right up to the line and pushed up against it, but he’d never crossed it. She trusted him not to cross that line right now too. And the impact of that was more monumental for her than she had the time or the capacity to really sit with right now. There were more pressing matters at hand.

She bit her lip at his sharp intake of breath when she knelt down and pulled down his jeans just enough for him to pop out of his boxer briefs, feeling a renewed sense of confidence that she could rock his world just because she wanted to right now. Because giving that to him would do as much for her as it would for him.

With his hard length nestled in her hand, she wasn’t wondering how she would measure up to anything he’d ever had before. None of that mattered anymore. As her lips slipped over him, he released one low, deep groan and she couldn’t stop herself from smiling around him, her eyes drifting up to watch him. Her head dipped even lower as her neck moved her lips up and down as she swirled her tongue around him, paying close attention to every noise, every groan, so she knew what was working for him and what wasn’t. It seemed like everything she was doing was working. Her right hand gripped the space her mouth couldn’t quite get to and started pumping to the rhythm of her lip’s ministrations. With one more exhaled groan, he ground hips up as he found his release, his hands never once leaving the counter.

She grinned up at him as she got back to her feet, being careful to tuck him back inside his boxer briefs, zip his fly, button his jeans, and buckle his belt. And he still, she noted, hadn’t moved his hands from the counter. Maybe he just hadn’t fully recovered yet, and that was more than okay.

“I haven’t done that since I was 19,” she admitted with a shaky laugh.

Wow. She couldn’t believe she’d just said that out loud. That was a little insane.

“Well, darlin’,” Jax chuckled, his hands still fixed to the counter as his lips curled into a slow, lazy smirk. “Your skills are unmatched, out of practice or not. Although, I’m hopin’ this means you’re gonna be practicing that a little more, you know, just to make sure you’ve really got a handle on it.”

“Oh, I think I’ll be feeling the need to hone my skills pretty often from here on out. I quite enjoyed myself.”

And the most insane thing of all? That was completely true. She  _ had  _ enjoyed it. Every second of it. She never thought that was something she’d ever want to do again, but here she was, with him leaning against her kitchen island, and her loving every second of the power and the control he willingly handed over to her.

That smirk on his handsome face only deepened as his hands finally left the counter to close around her hips. “That’s what I like to hear.”

Allie tilted her head toward the stairs with a smile. “You wanna go to bed?”

“Baby, I thought you’d never ask.”

Her eyes drifted down to his bloody knuckles as she took his hand and led him toward the stairs. “I have a first aid kit upstairs.”

He just shook his head as he trailed behind her up the stairs. “I’ll deal with it in the morning. Let’s just go to bed.”

When they got to her bedroom, Jax ampled over to the right side of her bed and she moved over to the left. He kept his eyes on her as he slid off his cut and set it gingerly on the nightstand next to his side of the bed. Then he dipped a hand inside his pockets before tossing his keys and his phone on top of his cut. And although she was technically already wearing what she’d planned to try to sleep in that night, her hands moved to the waistband of her leggings, and she slipped them down her legs, tossing them on the ground behind her.

Jax’s eyes dropped to the skin she’d just bared for him, and with his lips twisting into a smirk, his fingertips made quick work the buttons on his blue flannel and he dropped it onto the floor.

“So I had lunch with your mom today.”

His movements stilled and his eyebrows lifted high into his head. “Really.”

“Yeah,” she laughed, her eyes following his movements as he reached for his belt buckle. “We had a good talk. She gave me some good advice.”

His eyebrows dipped into a slight frown, even as he unzipped his fly, pushed his jeans down, and then tossed them on the floor. “I see.”

“It was fine, Jax,” she laughed again. “I mean, yeah, she scared the shit out of me at first, but like I said, we had a good talk.”

He ran a hand over his mouth in thought, with his other hand on his hip, and then he just shrugged. “Alright. I guess I should just be glad you two are gettin’ along.”

“We’ve always gotten along,” Allie lifted a shoulder as she lifted her tank top over her head. “She’s just always scared the shit out of me is all.”

He huffed out a laugh, his eyes darkening as he took in the sight of her in a lacy bralette and boyshort panties. And then he reached for the neck of his white T-shirt and pulled it over his head.

“And, apparently,” she grinned easily, her eyes roaming over the muscles rippling his chest and abdomen. “She’s having another family dinner this week and not only am I required to show up early and help Gemma set up the table with Lyla and Piper, but she’s going to let me know what I need to bring after she finishes her meal planning.”

Now, Jax’s eyebrows shot all the way to his forehead. “Wow. She sure as shit didn’t waste any time.”

“Definitely not. I think she’s just trying to help smooth things over though,” Allie just shrugged easily. “And, she also had an ulterior motive for taking me out to lunch. She pretty much asked me for permission to keep having sex with my dad.”

Jax’s eyes just about popped out of their sockets, and then he covered his face with both hands before his shoulders started shaking with laughter.

“Oh my fucking God,” he huffed out in between laughs. “What did you say?”

Allie just shrugged, having made her peace with it already. “I told her they were both adults and could do whatever they wanted. They don’t need my permission to have sex, you know?”

Jax scrunched up his nose a little. “It’s weird though.”

“ _ So _ weird. I can’t...I just can’t let myself think about it too much. But if she’s happy, if he’s happy, what difference does it make? Besides, I think I’m gonna be in the doghouse with her for a long time because we didn’t tell her about us. I think I’ve got a lot of ground to cover on that one until I’m out of the woods.”

Jax’s lips pulled apart in a grimace with a tight nod. “Yeah. I think I’m probably in the doghouse with ya too. Sounds like you got it covered though, baby.”

“Yeah, I think so.”

His eyes glimmered at her from across the bed, and then he tipped his chin to her. “Hey, why was Juice in the house before?”

She smiled at him softly. “I gave him a cup of coffee when he was out on the curb. He came in for a refill.”

There was a part of her that felt a little guilty for leaving out all the other details of Juice’s visit inside her house. While she knew he definitely wouldn’t be happy to hear how Juice had not-so-subtly interrogated and tested her at every turn, not to mention the tone he’d used with her in doing it, but she was also very aware that part of the test was gauging how much she would turn around and tell Jax. To find out just how intertwined the roles of old lady and lawyer had become. To find out just how trustworthy, as the club’s lawyer, she really was. And because of that, she knew she couldn’t share any of what was said between her and Juice tonight. After all, Juice was her client, and because of that, she couldn’t tell Jax the details of their conversation even if she wanted to.

“Winning hearts and minds one cup of coffee at a time, huh?” Jax smirked at her. His eyes dropped to the duvet on her bed, and she knew what he was waiting for.

“Well, I wasn’t necessarily  _ trying  _ to do that. I was really just trying to be nice. And it seemed like the right thing to do.”

His lips lifted, and there it was again. His eyes were already telling her everything they hadn’t said yet, and her heart tightened in her chest, burning and needing him tonight more than anything.

“Hey, Jax? Is it okay if we just sleep together tonight?”

He eyed her carefully, his lips curling into a light smile. “Sure, baby. You kinda look dead on your feet anyway.”

“I didn’t sleep at all last night,” she explained softly. “I think I drank about three pots of coffee today.”

He nodded slowly, his eyes glimmering again. “I know we still need to talk, but I really need to get the vote behind me first. Don’t take this the wrong way, Allie, but you’re already in my head the way it is with this vote, and I gotta go to that table clear and focused tomorrow. Us talking before that isn’t gonna help.”

“I understand.”

And she really did. She’d said everything she’d needed to say. Now it was on him to figure out a path forward. They could wait another day. They’d already been waiting long enough, hadn’t they? One more day wouldn’t make much difference in the grand scheme of things.

With all that behind them and shelved for the time being, Allie pushed her duvet cover down and slid into bed. Jax followed her lead, folding himself in bed next to her and pulling the covers up over the top of them. She turned around, letting her head rest against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her to pull her more tightly into him. 

His lips found her hair again as he murmured, “Everything’s gonna be okay, Allie. We just gotta take it one day at a time.”

She tilted her head up to find his lips, not wanting to lie to him and tell him she agreed. With that vote tomorrow, she really  _ wasn’t  _ so sure that everything really was going to be okay. It felt like this one vote held everything in the balance - the club’s future, her future with the club, and their future together. He had to know that, and in this moment, she wouldn't trade places with him for a second. There was a part of her that hated feeling like she had no control over what happened next, but at least she could say she’d done everything she could. Jax might not be in that position once everything was all said and done.

And  _ that  _ thought had her pressing her face into his chest again, needing to feel him, needing to savor this for as long as she could.

“Hey, baby?”

“Yeah, Jax?”

“I know you said you were tired, but I didn’t have dinner yet. You think I could take care of that before we pass out for the night? I’ve got a theory to test.”

She was still laughing as his lips left a trail down her neck, over her collarbone, across her breasts, over her stomach, and finally down, down, and down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - Thank you to everyone who's read and stuck with this story, especially if you've commented! Your thoughts and your feedback really do keep me going!
> 
> So, thoughts on this one? They're pretty close to working through their issues, but unfortunately, a lot of that has to do with how the club ultimately decides to vote (and there's really only so much Jax can control with that too). The vote will take place in the next chapter, and then we'll also see how Allie's conversation with Juice impacts their vote ;)


	25. Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

As the red morning light peeked in through the blinds, Jax stirred in his sleep, tucking his old lady in closer against his chest. He had no idea what time it was, and although his knuckles ached and throbbed, all he knew was that he could stay here forever, nestled in her comfy bed, with its soft sheets and warm blankets, and Allie pressed up against him, still naked from the waist down. He’d gotten her good and tuckered out the night before, putting that theory to the test with very positive results.

And with that thought, and with the way this day was already staring him in the face, he just wanted her.

Somewhere, deep down, he knew maybe it was better to wait until after they’d talked later tonight, and after they knew how things landed with the vote. He had plenty of things to say, and he was sure she did too, but right now, he had a feeling they both just needed this. So, his fingertips drifted down her stomach, slipping over her bare skin and finding that sweet spot he’d gotten to know so well last night. She stirred under his touch and shifted in bed to lay on her back, her eyelids fluttering open. She smiled back at him sleepily before leaning in to brush her mouth against his lips.

“I wanna take this further, baby,” he murmured. “Is that okay?”

It was still pretty early, but she caught his meaning almost immediately. She hesitated for just a moment, like her sleepy brain was working overtime right now to decide what she really wanted to do. Of course that was her choice - it always was. He was perfectly willing to let her call the shots when it came to their physical relationship, especially considering that had been working out pretty well for him so far. Somehow, he’d found himself an old lady who was an  _ actual _ lady in the streets and a bad girl in their bed, and he couldn’t have been fucking happier about it.

But then she exhaled softly, and nodded. “Yeah, Jax. That’s okay.”

That was all he needed to hear. He rolled on top of her, pushing the blankets out of his way to get to more of her. 

“When do you have to get up?”

She huffed out a laugh but groped around for her phone on her nightstand to glance at the screen. “You’ve got a half an hour.”

“I can work with that,” he murmured against her lips, taking possession of them again and slipping his tongue between her parted lips. 

While he wanted to take his time, especially since the first time he’d been inside her hadn’t exactly gone the way he’d originally planned, he just needed her. Needed to feel her. Needed to be inside her. His fingers slid underneath her bra and slipped it over her head so that she was completely naked underneath him, and then her hands flew to his waistband to slide his boxer briefs down.

“Bottom drawer in my nightstand,” Allie whispered.

“Got it.”

He dove for her nightstand, rifling through that bottom drawer until he found what he was looking for, ripped the foil package open with his teeth, and rolled the condom over himself. And then he didn’t waste anymore time. He was just done wasting time with her. He’d already done enough of that to last him a lifetime, and he’d be damned if he was going to allow another second go by that he didn’t enjoy with her to the fullest.

And as he slid inside her, whatever pieces of himself that had been missing before just fell right into place. This was exactly what he’d been missing all his life. That thing he’d been working toward and moving toward without any real direction was finally right here, in this bed, and his for the taking. And he was gonna fucking take it. So when he felt her tighten and tremble underneath him, he shoved his face into her neck and let himself go. He’d already fallen a long time ago - might as well go all the way. Being with her, like this...he’d just never  _ felt  _ this before. Never felt this connected or  _ whole  _ with anyone else before in his entire life. And maybe that was because he’d always just been waiting for her, whether he knew it or not, whether he’d been willing to admit it or not.

Allie murmured in his ear about needing to take a shower, playfully swatting him away when he made a move to toss her over his shoulder to carry her in there himself, and she grinned at him as she threw a robe on. Jax watched her from the bed, reaching out in one last attempt to pull her back to him before she scurried out of the room, and then he fell back against his pillow and blew out a sigh.

Man, he felt like the luckiest son of a bitch in the world right now.

About 10 minutes later, light buzzing vibrated from over on the nightstand and he scooped his prepay up with one hand, frowning at the caller ID. What the hell was Harrison doing calling him right now? It was way too early in the morning for this shit.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed, running a hand through his hair as he flipped his prepay open.

“Yeah?”

“Hey, man,” Harrison told him through the phone apologetically. “Sorry to bother you at this hour, but I think I got something, and I didn’t want to sit on this one for too long without talking to you first.”

Jax’s head shot up at that and his heart pounded in his chest. “Whatdya got?”

“I think I got his location. I’m not 100 percent sure on that, but it’s a hot lead. I think I need a week, maybe two, to really nail it down and see what this is. Since I’m not 100 percent on this, I’m good with waiting to meet up if you are. I just wanted to get your go-ahead before I started tracking this lead.”

Jax just shrugged, glancing over his shoulder as Allie walked back into the bedroom, still in that robe and now with her head wrapped in a towel. He winked at her, then eased himself off the bed, pulling on his boxer briefs, and reaching for his jeans.

“Yeah, bro. Do what you gotta do. Just keep me in the loop and let me know as soon as you know anything.”

“Alright, man. I’m on it,” Harrison told him. “I think we’re almost there - I just need a little more time.”

“Yeah...” Jax just shrugged again, momentarily distracted when Allie slid her robe off and slipped some panties on. “Uh, sure.”

“You alright?” Harrison laughed through the phone. “If you need me to -”

“Nah,” Jax cut in quickly. “Everything’s good. I trust you, bro. You know what you’re doin’. Just keep me in the loop.”

“Sounds good, man. I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve got it nailed down.”

“Alright. Talk to you soon.”

Jax snapped his prepay shut and tossed it onto the bed, running a hand through his hair again with a sigh.

“Everything alright, Jax?” Allie called out to him from the vanity on the other side of the room.

“Yeah,” he sighed again as he buckled his jeans and pulled his T-shirt on over his head. “That was our PI. He thinks he’s got something.”

“Oh,” Allie’s eyebrows lifted into her forehead. “Well, that’s good news, right?”

Jax just shrugged, putting his arms through his flannel as he spoke. “I guess. If he’s got something. Our guy’s been getting moved around a lot, and Harrison’s been tailing him for a few weeks but hasn’t been able to get a solid location long enough for us to do anything about it.”

Not to mention the fact that Darby was still under the protection of a cartel right now, but there was no way in hell he was telling her that. At least not until it was absolutely necessary.

Allie nodded sympathetically, and he found himself heading her way, reeled in by the sight of her pulling another one of those lacy bras over her head and straightening that lacy fabric on her ribcage. His hands shot to help the material slide down her skin, and he just couldn’t stop himself from pressing his lips to her neck.

“I like these,” he murmured in her ear. “You got a lot of ‘em? I think you should wear one everyday.”

“I usually do. They’re comfortable,” she laughed, gesturing to her lace-covered chest. “And it’s not like I need a lot of support.”

His hands immediately closed over her breasts, giving them a good knead before his head dipped down to brush his lips over the subtle cleavage that bra gave her. “You got nothin’ to worry about, baby. This is all I need, right here.”

She laughed a little as she gently pushed his hands away. “I appreciate that, Jax, but I do have to get ready for work and actually get there today.”

“I know, darlin’,” Jax sighed heavily, resting his forehead on her shoulder. “I think I’m just tryin’ to put off starting this day for as long as possible.”

“I get it. Hey, we can push off that talk until tomorrow. I know you’ve got a pretty rough day ahead of you, and there’s no reason we can’t just have a relaxing night tonight, and I don’t know, watch a movie or something, just something easy and stress-free.”

And while that sounded like a pretty good idea, he was just done wasting time with her. He was done putting off the rest of his life. Besides, if the vote went the way he thought it might, that also might significantly change the things he had to say to her, and they were better off just getting that conversation over with now, instead of putting off the inevitable.

“I hear what you’re sayin’, but I think we really gotta have that talk. I don’t know when I’ll be able to get away from the clubhouse today, but I’ll let you know as soon as I got an idea.”

“Okay,” Allie smiled softly.

“And on that note,” he exhaled heavily. “I should really get going. If I sit here and watch you get ready for work any longer, I just might be haulin’ you back to that bed, so for both our sakes, I think I should probably just get a move on.”

She was still laughing when he kissed her goodbye and shut her bedroom door behind him. Then he padded down the stairs, drawn into the kitchen by the aroma of coffee and toast. Dan was perched by the coffee maker, filling up a mug, and then handed it to his...boyfriend? Hook-up? Jax wasn’t quite sure what this guy was to him, but he was the same guy who’d been here last week, so it looked like things were going well for Dan in that department too.

“Morning, friend,” Dan called out to him in a sing-song voice. “Coffee?”

“Sure,” Jax laughed. He couldn’t hang around for much longer, but he’d never turn down a cup of coffee. “Thanks, bro.”

Dan handed him a steaming mug with a wide grin. “Where’s our pocket-sized sleeping beauty? Still asleep?”

“Nah,” he huffed out a laugh. “She’s gettin’ ready for work.”

“Ah, I see,” Dan nodded, and then gestured to the toaster. “I just have time for toast this morning, if you’d like a piece that is.”

Jax just shrugged and snatched a piece of toast out of the toaster, tipping his chin to Dan’s boyfriend, or whoever he was. “‘Sup, Adrian.”

Adrian nodded to him, lifting his coffee mug in greeting. “Hello, Jax.”

It was times like these that it was a little hard to believe this was his life now. Last week, he’d been crashing at the clubhouse, in a dirty dorm that pretty much only got cleaned when his mother barged in and did it for him, which was a far cry from the immaculate and beautiful house Allie lived in. Which, he suspected, got cleaned regularly by someone she hired, but, he also figured, good for her that she could afford it and cared whether she lived in a clean house or not. Living in the clubhouse definitely had its advantages in terms of his role as president, just from the proximity alone. But it was also a booze-soaked, pot-filled clubhouse filled with greasy bikers and even greasier women that usually smelled like smoke, sex, and stale beer, particularly after a weekend. He’d all but forgotten that there were other ways to live, and other ways to spend a morning than sidled up at the bar in the clubhouse with a beer and a smoke for breakfast.

He could definitely get used to this. Porn stars and all.

“You know,” Jax grinned at them. “I didn’t hear you guys sneak in last night. Must’ve been a late night at the studio, huh?”

“Yeah, well,” Dan eyed him smugly. “From the sounds  _ I _ heard coming from your bedroom last night, you were a little too busy servicing our sweet little Alexandra to know which way was up or down, I’d say.”

Jax didn’t miss a beat. “This is true.”

“I guess the best head really  _ does  _ come from a thug,” Dan offered with a shrug, and then jumped right to it. “So now that Allie is your lady friend, or whatever, does that mean I have unlimited access to clubhouse parties? I don’t mean to assume or anything, but seeing as how I  _ am  _ your new lover’s best friend, I feel like there should be some perks in this whole situation for me too, namely the VIP treatment at your clubhouse.”

Jax huffed out a laugh and shook his head. Then, all he could do was clap Dan on the shoulder with a grin. “Hey, bro, you want the VIP treatment, you got it. And the term is old lady, not lady friend.”

“Ah,” Dan wagged a finger in the air as Adrian chuckled next to him. “That’s right. That’s right. Allie and I have talked about that before. Why  _ do _ you guys use that term anyway? It’s not like Allie is  _ old, _ per say, and between you and me, I wouldn’t necessarily call her a  _ lady _ either.”

Jax just laughed again, choosing to ignore that last part and focus on the first. “I honestly don’t know why that’s the term we use. It’s just sorta always been that way, you know? But that’s what she is to me. What, uh - what did she say about that?”

Dan just cocked a dark eyebrow at him and waved a piece of toast in his face. “If you think you’re getting any dirt out of me, you are dead wrong, friend. I’d sooner chop off my favorite limb than spill any details to the likes of you.”

“Whoa,” Jax held up his hands in defense with a hearty chuckle. “A’ight. A’ight. Read you loud and clear.”

Dan made a little show of leaning over the side of the island to make sure Allie wasn’t coming down the stairs, and then turned back to face him with a sly glint in his eyes. “But I  _ will _ say this - and if I find out you told her I said this, you and I are gonna have some words - but anyway, I  _ will  _ say that I’ve known our little Alexandra for about six years now, and in those six years, I have never seen her  _ quite  _ the way she is with you, like  _ ever _ . Suddenly, she’s out doing things and going places that aren’t work-related, going on dates with you and coming home all flushed and happy, spending the night with you and coming down the stairs all flushed and orgasm-y. I’ve never seen her like this before, and I think that’s all because of you. I know our girl puts on a tough front, but she’s not quite as tough as she thinks she is. Now,  _ that  _ being said, if you hurt her in  _ any _ way, I will break into that clubhouse in the middle of the night, put a pillow over your beautiful face, and smother you. A’ight,  _ bro _ ?”

Jax rocked back on his heels, his jaw working through some amusement, and just a touch of annoyance if he was being honest with himself. He’d been hoping Dan would offer up a little more intel than that for him going into the discussion he needed to have with Allie later tonight, but he figured he’d take whatever he could get. And the little Dan had given him was pretty damn good.

“Hey,” Jax clapped him on the shoulder again good-naturedly. “You don’t have anything to worry about, a’ight,  _ bro _ ? I’m in this for the long haul with her. I’m not going anywhere.”

Dan’s mouth twisted into a slow grin and he nodded. “Good to hear.”

* * *

Jax gripped the gavel in his hand, took a deep breath, and pounded it to call church to start. With everyone gathered around the table, all with Allie’s report in front of them, there was nothing left to do but hash this out once and for all. It was now or never. All he could do was say his peace and hope the vote was with him.

And if the vote  _ wasn’t  _ with him, then he had no idea what he was going to do next.

“Alright,” Jax blew out a long stream of smoke through his nostrils and flicked some ash from his cigarette into the ashtray next to him. “Everyone’s had plenty of time with this now. Anyone got anything they wanna say?”

Piney huffed out a laugh, picking up his copy of the report and tossing it to the middle of the table. “Well, I read the thing like you wanted, prez.”

Jax cocked an eyebrow at him expectantly, but his blood was already boiling at the fucking disrespect. Had the old man learned nothing when he’d body slammed him onto the pool table two days ago?

“And I still say we have the lawyer pussy -” Piney held up a hand with a cocky grin when he saw Jax’s nostrils flare. “Sorry, we have the  _ lawyer _ clean this up like she did for Cara Cara. We get rid of the underage girls, put a stop to the backroom dealings, hire some door guys and some body guys, maybe keep a rotation over there like we do at the studio - especially since it sounds like we only gotta keep one guy there now instead of two - and then we’re in the clear. I don’t get why she’s kickin’ up such a shitstorm over this, and I don’t really care either. This is nothin’ that can’t be undone, and nothin’ we can’t handle. I say we go full steam ahead on this one and start pullin’ in the profits.”

Jax opened his mouth to speak, but Chib’s voice halted him in his seat.

“I just...I just gotta think there’s somethin’ else out there besides this. We’re rushin’ this, and I don’t know if that’s the right play. I just think there’re too many things we can’t always know with this boy-o, too many things we might not be able to control. And if we can’t control this, then I don’t know, brothers, maybe we gotta sniff elsewhere for now.”

Opie nodded tightly as he flicked some ash from his cigarette into a nearby ashtray. “I’m with ya on that one, brother. I think this is a bad play.”

“I don’t know,” Happy shrugged nonchalantly. “I think I’m goin’ with Piney and Tig. We need the cash, so we gotta get after it.”

Jax’s eyes landed on Bobby, who just shrugged. “Everyone at this table knows where I land. My mind hasn’t changed.”

And then Tig chimed in with a sigh, “I’m not sayin’ I  _ like  _ the shit I saw in that report. I mean, we can all agree that it’s not  _ good _ , by any means, and that it’s a problem. I’m sure as shit glad she did that audit so we know all this ahead of time. I can’t imagine how we’d feel, what we’d do if we’d gotten into business with King and then found all this out after the fact. But I still think, and Jax, I honestly mean no disrespect here, but I still think she’s comin’ at this from a different angle than we would. I get what she said in the report about…” 

Tig trailed off, flipping open the report to a page he’d marked, “ _ unethical and untrustworthy business practices _ because that’s true. The guy’s unethical and he’s probably untrustworthy, at least for now, but we can lock him down. We did it with Cara Cara. We did it with Caruso. I don’t see why we can’t do it with this. I just think she’s...I hate to say it because I like the girl, I really do, but I think she’s just being...a  _ girl  _ about this, you know?” and then he immediately held up a hand in defense. “I didn’t mean it like that. But she’s an old lady too, right? And she’s not gonna want her man touchin’ this one with a 30-foot pole for a lotta reasons that are probably legit. But from where  _ I’m _ standin’ right now, she’s just an old lady gettin’ in our way.”

A heavy silence permeated the air, and then, as Tig’s eyes darted around the room to gauge the table’s reaction, he held up a hand again. “Like I said, no disrespect to the prez’s old lady, but that’s where I’m at with this one.”

Jax smashed his spent cherry in the ashtray next to him and immediately lit up another one. He had a feeling he was about to go through his whole pack of cigarettes before church was over. Ever since he’d gone toe to toe with Allie in her office over this, not to mention the desperate, world-rocking sex that followed, he hadn’t really been able to think about much else other than what he was going to say at the table in this moment. At the end of the day, he just had to lay all his cards down and let the chips fall where they may. That was the best he could do for the club, and for his old lady too.

His eyes fell to Juice, giving him a chance to speak, but Juice’s eyes were locked on his folded hands in front of him. So, Jax took that as his cue.

“You know,” Jax started slowly. “After church a few days ago, when we first started to hash this out, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’m willin’ to lose if we go forward with this and what I’m willin’ to lose if we don’t. It’s all I can think about, you know? I’m sure you all know how I’m gonna vote, but I wanna make sure it’s clear why. So, if we don’t do this, we lose the opportunity to profit. We’re that much further away from getting the cash flow we need to get outta guns once and for all. We’re accepting that it’s gonna take longer, and that we’re gonna have to run guns longer too.”

He glanced out at the table, looking for a reaction and saw a few head nods. Then he charged ahead.

“And if we do this, we lose our lawyer. I’m sure you’ve all heard about this by now, but she told me yesterday, under no uncertain terms, that if we move forward with King, she’s walking away from the club. So, if we do this, we’d lose someone who’s gone to bat for us, who’s worked her ass off for us, who’s brought us some really good fucking ideas that are gonna help us change things, and who’s done a hell of a job in giving us advice we really should listen to. And if we do this, I know I’m gonna lose her as my old lady too - maybe not right away, but I just don’t see a way it can work long-term if she walks away from the club because of this. And in the end, I honestly don’t know if she’d ever forgive me and be able to look at me the same way again.”

Jax blew out a heavy sigh as those words hit him hard. They were true. They were fucking  _ true.  _ If they did this, he’d lose the one thing he’d come to need more than he needed just about anything in his entire life. And with that thought, the rest of it wasn’t so difficult to push out.

“I’m sorry, brothers, but I’m not willin’ to lose that just for some money. And if I really believed this was the right play for this club, and that she was purposefully trying to turn me a certain way for the wrong reasons, I’d accept her resignation as our lawyer and as my old lady today, and I’d be voting a different way. But I’m not willin’ to do that because this is the wrong move for this club and she’s just doing her job by giving us this advice - the  _ right  _ advice. You can take that however you wanna take it. I know we all want her being our lawyer and her being my old lady to be two separate things, but maybe that’s just not possible, at least not this time. And that’s fine because I’m just not losing her over this.”

He paused at that, gearing himself up for the next thing he needed to say. There was a part of him that wished the first time he was really saying these things out loud wasn’t at the table, and that he could say them to Allie first, but necessity dictated that he bring the club up to speed now.

“The only thing I can be at this table is honest,” he told them simply. “And if I’m being honest, I look out at this table, and I see my future, you know? This club is my future. This gavel is my future. And the way we move forward affects all of our futures - I’ve had that on my shoulders every day since we got outta Stockton and I took up the gavel. I want every single man at this table to have a future that doesn’t involve guns or blood or bullets or prison sentences. I want every single one of us to be able to go home at night, wherever that may be, and be able to  _ sleep _ at night too. I want all of us to be safe and not have to worry anymore, patches and families included. I want that for  _ all _ of us. I really fucking do. And then, if I’m being honest, I look at my old lady, and I see my future there too, you know? I see my future wife, the future mother of my children, all those things. I want that so fucking bad - I want  _ all _ of it so fucking bad. And brothers, getting into bed with Dominic King does not help us get to any of those futures. It just doesn’t. It’s gonna throw us in the opposite direction because it’s the opposite of what we’re tryin’ to do here. Because if we do this, what are we really changing?”

He paused there again, to make sure they were all really hearing him on this.

“The way I see it, if we get into bed with King, the only reason we’re doing it is for a quick cash grab, and if that’s really all we’re after, then we might as well stay in guns because nothing will really change. And I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t feel comfortable gettin’ into business with an asshole like King who’s just a hand job away from gettin’ busted. It just doesn’t feel right, and it’s not a decision I can live with. So at the end of the day, for me, this is a pretty simple choice. And if I’m being asked to choose between my old lady and some money, then I’m sorry brothers, but I’m gonna choose my old lady, who also happens to be a damn good lawyer that’s done everything we’ve ever asked her to do and then some. So I’m gonna vote nay because that’s what’s best for me, and because that’s what’s best for this club.”

The room was silent as his words hung in the air. There was nothing more to say. And regardless of how this vote ended up, at least he could go home to Allie tonight, when they finally sat down to talk, and tell her he’d fought for them just as much as he’d fought for the club and hope that would be enough to help her figure out a way to forgive him. His gaze swung to each member sitting at the table and resigned himself with the knowledge that while he’d done his best, it didn’t look like he’d swayed any opinions either.

So with a heavy sigh, he prepped himself for the inevitable.

“Alright,” he pushed out roughly. “We ready to vote on this or does anyone else got somethin’ they wanna say?”

His eyes lifted from the gavel, looking out to the table one last time, and then Juice’s quiet voice called out into the void.

“Yeah, I got somethin’ to say.”

Now, all attention at that table focused on Juice, who sat in his seat with a frown etched across his forehead and his hands folded so tightly in front of him his knuckles turned white. Juice seemed to be aware of this new attention, and he flashed the table a grim smile.

“I thought I knew where I landed on this, and then I had a conversation with our lawyer about it last night.”

Juice glanced at Jax apologetically, and held up a hand when he obviously saw the way Jax’s eyes flew to him in warning.

“I know, bro,” Juice winced a little. “And some of the things I got to say...I’m good with you takin’ me out back later and punchin’ my lights out if that’s what you wanna do because I’m not sorry. I won’t lie, when I first saw Jax on that security feed at our lawyer’s house, I was fucking pissed.  _ Real  _ fucking pissed. It seemed to me, at the time, that Jax was takin’ advantage of his position more than just a little bit and in doin’ that, he was takin’ advantage of this table too. And I was fucking pissed at her too. I couldn’t believe she was actually takin’ our money and then doin’ that shit. That just didn’t seem right to me. And so...I’m not gonna sugarcoat what I did, but maybe I tested her a little bit, okay?”

Jax felt his entire body go rigid in his chair, his eyes locked firmly on Juice with an icy glare. Juice swallowed tightly, and shot him a pained smile.

“I might’ve uh,” Juice laughed a little uncomfortably and shifted in his chair. “I might’ve gotten a DUI a couple weeks ago.”

“You fuckin’ idiot,” Tig shook his head. “That’s number two, isn’t it?”

“It is,” Juice sighed.

Opie winced at him from where he was sitting. “And that means you’re not gonna be able to ride for awhile then, right?”

Juice nodded tightly and pushed out a heavy sigh, running a hand over his shaved head sheepishly. “Yeah.”

“So what the hell does this have to do with our lawyer?” Jax bit out, careful to keep the rest of his body calm and still.

Juice huffed out a laugh and held up a hand again. “Alright. Alright. So when she came to the clubhouse Monday morning and I walked her in, I told her about it. Asked her what I’d have to do, what it meant, if she could help, and then I pretty much implied that I didn’t want her to tell anyone because I was embarrassed about it - which, to be clear, I  _ am _ , okay? I  _ am  _ a fucking idiot. I  _ know _ this. Anyway - prez, did she say anything at all about that to you?”

Jax found himself frowning back at Juice and lifted a shoulder. “Nah. She’s never said a word.”

Juice nodded with a small grin lifting the corner of his mouth. “I kinda figured that. I guess I was just tryin’ to figure out if she’d turn around and tell you, even after it was clear I didn’t want her to. I figured it was worth a shot to see - I mean, it’s not like I was tellin’ her anything that would put the club at risk, or put  _ her  _ at risk. I just wanted to see what she would do. And you know what she did? She gave me her card and told me to text her when I got the paperwork back from the court. And then last night, when I was sittin’ outside on her curb, she knocks on my door to bring me a cup of coffee and a folder full of the research she did for me on all those questions I had, and she broke it all down for me, really explaining it to make sure I understood. She even told me I should probably use a lawyer that had more experience with this kinda thing, but that she was more than willing to represent me if that’s what I wanted.”

Jax didn’t even know which way was up anymore. It took him a second to get a good handle on what Juice was really saying here and where he was going with this, but when it really sank in, all he could do was sit there in his chair, feeling knocked right off his feet. God, he fucking loved her.

“Did she, uh,” Juice started again, rubbing the back of his neck a little anxiously as he spoke. “Did she happen to mention that I told her what that douchebag,” he gestured with his head toward Piney, “said about her?”

Piney and Jax spoke at the same time:

“Who ya callin’ a douchebag, you little shit?”

“You fucking did  _ what _ ?”

Juice’s lips pulled apart in a wince, and it was all Jax could do to keep his feet planted firmly on the ground, and not leap across the table to strangle the idiot. Of all the aisine things to pull, this was probably one of the stupidest things he’d ever heard. So, apparently, Juice was  _ asking _ for a beating. That was what was happening here.

“I see now that it probably wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done,” Juice offered with another wince.

Jax lifted his eyebrows furiously at him. “You think?”

“Hey,” Juice held his hands up in defense. “I wanted to see if she’d tell you after I asked her not to. And did she tell you?”

Jax blew out a heavy breath. At least he had a pretty good idea where Juice was going with this, even if he still had half a mind to body slam  _ him  _ into the nearest pool table.

“No, she didn’t.”

“That’s what I figured,” Juice went on with an easy shrug. “And did she tell you we talked in her house when I came in to get that refill on my coffee?”

Jax just shook his head.

“So, after she brought me that coffee and all that research,” Juice went on with a tight nod. “I figured I’d might as well go inside and pick her brain about all this shit. I’d heard she threatened to quit on us, and I thought I deserved to know why and hear it from her. And in talking to her...Tig, man, I think you’re wrong about where her head is at with all this.”

Juice paused there to gesture to Tig, who was hanging on every word he said.

“I mean, I got the feeling from her, and from Jax just now too, that if we go forward with this, her and the prez are probably done. After talking to her, I think Jax is right - I just don’t see her forgiving him if we do this. So if she was really coming at this as an old lady, wouldn’t she be pushing for the option that keeps her and her old man together, not the one that would probably end them? For her, I don’t think this has anything to do with being an old lady at all. I think, even if she wasn’t Jax’s old lady, she’d still be comin’ at this the same way. I think this is just about doin’ the right thing, regardless of the consequences for her. And for her, the right thing for us to do is walk away from this deal. When I was talkin’ to her last night, I got the impression I was just talking to my lawyer, and that she was talking to me like a client - you know, lawyer-client confidentiality and all that shit. She was just doing her job, doing what we pay her to do. And I don’t think she was bullshitting me either. She said a lot of things, but there was one thing that really stood out to me, and I haven’t been able to stop thinkin’ about it since: she said, and I quote,  _ we should be reporting his ass, not trying to decide if we still want to go into business with him. _ ”

Jax felt his lips quirk up into a smile - yeah, that sounded exactly like something she’d say. His gaze flicked to his VP, who was watching Juice with a hint of a smile playing on his lips too.

“And then I got to thinkin’,” Juice went on, his voice becoming firmer and more confident with every word. “I was thinkin’ about how I’d feel if one of those girls at that club was my sister, and someone knew this shit was goin’ on and didn’t do anything about it. I think I know exactly how I’d feel because the shit King is doin’ at that club is just  _ wrong _ . It’s just fucking  _ wrong _ . And I just can’t see how, if we really wanna earn legit and go legit...I just can’t see how this is the way to get there because  _ nothing  _ that guy does is legit. Allie told me she doesn’t think we’ll ever be able to trust him, and I gotta agree with her. If we can’t trust him, we can’t do business with him. And now, the more I think about it, I don’t even know why we’re still sittin’ here talkin’ about this. Why we’d even bother tryin’ to clean something up that’s not for us to clean up.”

Juice threw his hands in the air in frustration.

“And you wanna know what else our lawyer said that really stuck out to me? She said that, if all of this blows up in our face, and King can’t be controlled and just keeps doin’ the same old shit and gets caught, the town would find out that we’re in the middle of all that and no one would ever want anything to do with us ever again. That shit hit me hard because it’s  _ true.  _ So, I guess, at the end of the day, to piggy-back off our prez a bit here, if I’m being asked to choose between our lawyer and some money, at least this time, I’m gonna vote to stick with our lawyer. Because from where I’m standing, she’s a helluva lot more trustworthy than Dominic King will ever be.”

At that point, Jax couldn’t hide the shit-eating grin on his face. Because holy fucking shit. She did it. She really goddamn did it - without even realizing what she was doing. Everything really was going to be okay now. Because of  _ her _ .

“Alright,” Jax gripped the gavel in one hand as he turned his gaze to the table with a grin. “We ready to vote or what?”

* * *

Allie poured herself another cup of coffee, and then, catching her dad coming right for her from the corner of her eye, hastily set the pot back on the burner, and tried to make a run for it.

“You can’t hide from me forever, Allie,” Jimmy called out to her.

She winced, pushed out a heavy sigh, and then turned on her heels to face him. “Hey, Dad.”

Jimmy narrowed his eyes at her a little and hitched a hand on his hip. “I know why you’ve been avoiding me, and I’m not sure I like it.”

“Uh huh. Okay, Dad. And why have I been avoiding you?”

Now, his lips quirked up in a knowing grin. “Gemma told me she talked to you.”

“That’s right,” she answered coolly before taking a sip from her coffee mug.

“And Gemma told me you said you were okay with everything. And yet, you’re still avoiding me.”

“Maybe it’s hard for me to look you in the eye right now, knowing what you’re doing on the side with Jax’s mom. Maybe that’s weird for me, Dad.”

Jimmy just lifted a shoulder. “That woman is wild - and I’d be an idiot if I let her get away, at least not while there’s still plenty of fun to be had.”

Allie held up a hand, having long ago reached her quota for this kind of talk. “Alright, Dad. I get it. Please, for my sake, do not go into the details of your sex life with Gemma.  _ Ever _ . I think it would be severely damaging to our relationship if you did.”

When Jimmy just threw up his hands, Allie cocked an eyebrow at him.

“You want me to go into the details of my sex life with Jax?”

Jimmy eyed her carefully, his dark eyes narrowing ever so slightly. “Alright. You got me there. I would prefer it if you kept those details to yourself, yes.”

“Thank you,” Allie nodded with a sly grin. “That being said, Dad, I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, but this is just...it’s a little weird for me right now, and it’s a lot easier for me to avoid you than it is to avoid Gemma. It’s not like I could even if I wanted to anyway.”

Jimmy rubbed a hand over his chin with a grin. “Yeah, I suppose it would be pretty difficult to do the whole avoidance act on your new boyfriend’s mom, huh? Especially if it’s Gemma?”

“Dad, you have no idea.”

“You know, speaking of that, Gemma mentioned she’s having a family dinner later this week. Do you think I could get an invite to that little party or would that be too weird for you?”

“Oh my God.”

Jimmy just lifted a shoulder, moving past her to get himself a cup of coffee too. “What? Why can’t I get an invite? Gemma said it was up to you.”

Allie squeezed her eyes shut through another wince. “Just...just let me think about it, Dad.”

“Hey, you know, since this is the first family dinner thing you’ll be at as the old lady of Samcro’s president, don’t you think it’ll take some of the heat off you if I show up with Gemma? Then all the focus will be on the weird old couple in the room, right?”

It took Allie a second to really catch his meaning, and then she whipped around to jab a pointed finger at him. “What do you mean weird old  _ couple _ ?”

Jimmy opened his mouth to respond, but then his face broke apart into a wide grin and he tipped his chin toward the hallway. Allie frowned, her eyes following his gaze, and then when she saw a familiar slicked-back blonde head moving down the hallway toward her office, she had to bite back a stupid grin. She pushed away the memory of the way his hands, his lips, and his body had felt on her this morning. Definitely not a thought she wanted to have standing right next to her dad.

“You know,” Jimmy leaned in to whisper in her ear, “Gemma seems to think her son is madly in love with you. I think I tend to agree, based on what I’ve seen.”

Even though her heart stuttered a little at that, this was starting to become a bridge too far. “You know, Dad, I think we should just put a moratorium on relationship discussions between us for a while. This is all starting to feel a little…”

“TMI?” Jimmy offered cheerfully with a wide grin.

Allie cocked her head to the side as she sidestepped around him to head down the hallway. “I was going to say incestuous.”

Jimmy’s face fell immediately. Allie, satisfied that she’d made herself clear, held up her coffee mug to him with a laugh, and headed for the hallway, leaving her dad to sit on  _ that  _ for just a second before he started bugging her again about family dinner. So, with her coffee mug in hand, she made her way toward her office, smiling at the way Jax leaned his shoulder into her doorway, happily chatting away with Piper, who was still at work on the mountain of paperwork on her desk.

He must’ve seen her coming from the corner of his eye because his head turned to her when she was about 15 feet away. Jax’s lips twisted into a sly smirk when they made eye contact and he cockily tipped his chin to her in greeting. She felt her eyes narrow at him as she closed the distance between them and he pushed off the doorframe so he could reach for her. He sure was in a good mood right now.

“Hey, baby,” he murmured when he slipped a hand on her waist, leaning in to kiss her forehead.

Now, her eyes just narrowed even more. “Hello, Jax. How can I help you today?”

Allie glanced inside her office to find Piper seated in her chair, watching the whole exchange with her eyes glimmering in amusement.

That smirk on his face only deepened as he looked down at her. “You think you could sneak away from the office for a little bit? Maybe like an hour or something?”

“What do you mean?” Allie frowned.

Now the jerk was laughing at her. “You heard me. I want you to come somewhere with me.”

“Jax, I can’t just -”

His lips curled into an amused smirk. “Come on, now. You won’t be sorry. I promise,” then he gestured with his head to her office. “Go get your purse - we need your keys.”

Before she could protest any further, he took her by the hand and gently corralled her into her office. Piper was already standing on the other side of her desk, helpfully holding up her purse for Allie, and grabbed her coffee mug from her in exchange.

“Have fun!” Piper waved cheerfully.

“I think you should get back to work,” Allie grumbled sourly, shooting Jax a playful glare as she spoke. “We have to make up this missed work time somehow.”

Jax just laughed, tilting his head to the side, that sly smirk still creeping across his face. Then he gestured to the hallway with a ringed hand. “Come on, you’re wastin’ precious work time here, darlin’. The longer you stall, the more time you lose.”

“Jesus Christ,” Allie mumbled under her breath.

He grinned at her again as he lazily draped an arm over her shoulder and led her down the hallway. Unfortunately for them, Jimmy was already headed right for them. He waved brightly to them as they met in the middle, and Jax lifted his arm off Allie’s shoulders so he could reach out to shake her dad’s hand.

“Jax,” Jimmy nodded with a grin.

“Nice to see ya, Jimmy,” he tipped his chin to him, and then he glanced down at Allie. “I was just gonna steal Attorney Levy here away for an hour or so, if you’re good with that. Maybe I’ll even take her out to lunch too.”

Allie just rolled her eyes at him.

“Hey, I think that’s a great idea,” Jimmy grinned, his dark eyes darting from Jax to Allie. “You know, Allie and I were just talkin’ about whether I should come to your mom’s family dinner later this week. What do ya think about that?”

Jax’s eyes widened a little, but he schooled his expression almost immediately, pressing an impassive grin on his face and shrugging. “And where did Allie land on that?”

“Oh, I said it was becoming a little too incestuous,” Allie informed him sweetly.

Jax choked on his laugh, covering his mouth with a fist as his shoulders shook with laughter. “I, uh...I guess I’m gonna have to defer to my old lady on this one.”

Allie couldn’t help the way those butterflies took flight, warming her chest and flushing her cheeks. This was only the third time she’d really heard him say that out loud, and it felt really good to hear.  _ So  _ good. So good, in fact, that she couldn’t hide the happy grin that slid across her face. Jax caught it immediately, and he matched that grin two-fold, his navy blue eyes sparkling.

Jimmy’s eyes darted between the two of them for a moment, and then just shrugged. “Alright. I suppose that’s fair. You two have fun - and hey, you wanna make this a habit? Go ahead and make this a habit. All I ask is that you just make sure the door is locked or that you have your afternoon delight elsewhere and  _ then  _ come back to the office. That’s all.”

With that, he clapped Jax on the shoulder, who was too stunned by all that to do much else, and then he lifted his other hand to give Allie a light smack on the cheek before whistling past them down the hallway.

“This is getting fucking out of hand,” Jax murmured in her ear as he started to lead her toward the studio’s front doors. “But hey, now that I’ve got his permission, maybe we really  _ should  _ start takin’ advantage of that. I can be here at noon, on the dot, every day if you want me to.”

Allie laughed as they pushed through the studio’s double doors and headed out into the parking lot. “Well, we’re gonna have to go elsewhere because we certainly can’t use my office.”

“And why’s that?” Jax cocked an eyebrow at her. “I think we’ve made pretty good use of it so far.”

She just huffed out a laugh, shaking off the heat that had fanned out between them. “Because Piper. That’s why.”

“Can’t we just tell her to get lost for a little while? She knows what’s up anyway.”

“And then make her come back to my office to work the rest of the day after we -” she paused when Jax stopped in front of her car and held his hand out for her keys. “Jax, what’s going on? Why are we taking my car?”

He just grinned brightly at her, wiggling his fingers impatiently at her to hand over the keys. “I wanna see your reaction when we get there.”

Allie’s eyes narrowed at him again. He was clearly up to something, and she didn’t particularly enjoy surprises. “And where are we going?”

“You’ll see. Come on, Attorney Levy. Gimme the keys.”

With a heavy sigh, she dug into her purse and handed over the keys. Allie gingerly slid into the passenger seat, still unsure about all this. Once again, he’d taken all the control away from her. Just breezed into her workplace and whisked her away without a real explanation, and she’d been helpless against him. Again. Just like always. Maybe she’d just have to find a way to get used to this because it wasn’t like Jax was going anywhere. And neither was she.

Jax pulled out of her parking space, chuckling when the podcast she’d been listening to on her way into work this morning started playing through her sound system. He surprised her by leaving it on, almost as if he was a tiny bit interested in hearing what she’d been listening to.

“Jax,” she tried again quietly. “How did the vote go today?”

He just threw her an easy grin before turning his eyes back to the road. “I’ll tell ya when we get there, okay?”

“You’re really not going to tell me where we’re going and what we’re going to do there?”

“No way.”

Allie pushed out a sigh, and leaned back in her seat, resigning herself to just going along with this, even though she didn’t really like it, and even though he chuckled at her as he turned up the volume on that podcast.

“You don’t exactly strike me as the type of guy who’d actually  _ choose  _ to listen to a podcast, especially one about the Supreme Court.”

He shot her a cocky grin and a wink, just because he knew he was already getting on her nerves. “I guess I’m just full of surprises today, baby.”

And, with that, it was officially time to change the subject, so she reached forward to pause the podcast. If he wasn’t going to give her any information, then she also wasn’t going to indulge him and make this even more entertaining for him.

“Hey, question for you.”

“What’s that, baby?”

“Do you like sports?”

Jax huffed out a laugh, turning to her with an amused frown. “What?”

Allie just shrugged. “Well, if we’ve got some time in between going wherever it is we’re going, I figured I’d use it. I realized that now that we’re...what  _ is _ the term we’re supposed to use? Dating?”

“We’re not just dating, Allie,” Jax told her with a smirk. “You know that.”

“I know,” she huffed in frustration. “But when I need to explain to someone who’s outside the club what we are, what do I say? Do I say you’re my boyfriend or...? I guess I’m just not sure how all this works.”

He took a moment to mull that over, and as he took another left turn, she still had no idea where they were going. “I guess, to anyone outside the club, I’d be your boyfriend. I’m good with you sayin’ that, if it’s more comfortable for you. And to anyone inside the club, you’re my old lady and I’m your old man.”

“Ugh,” Allie crinkled her nose and shook her head. “I do  _ not  _ like that.”

“What?” Jax laughed good-naturedly, reaching over the center console to intertwine their hands together. “You don’t wanna call me your old man?”

“That’s weird, Jax. When I hear that term, I think of you either as a  _ literal _ old man, which is weird enough as it is, or you know, old man as in my  _ father _ , and I think we’ve established that  _ that  _ particular situation is already getting twisted enough.”

“This is true,” Jax allowed easily. “And I get it. I’m honestly not sure if I’m ready to see those two together at family dinner this week. I mean, if your  _ dad _ touches my  _ mom _ or God forbid kisses her in front of me, in her goddamn house no less, I think I just might lose my shit.”

“I’m right there with you. I want them to be happy and everything, but that doesn’t mean I need to  _ see  _ them being happy. And you wanna know what else?”

“What’s that, darlin’?” Jax grinned at her.

“When my dad was talking to me about family dinner before, he actually referred to them as a weird old _ couple _ . Gemma was  _ pretty _ clear with me that this was just sex between them, not that they’re an actual couple. So, there’s that too.”

“Well, that sounds like somethin’ Gemma and Jimmy gotta work out between them. I’m sure as shit not getting anymore involved than I already am,” he shuddered a little at the thought, and then glanced at her with a smirk. “So, if you don’t wanna call me your old man, for reasons I can get behind, then I guess I’m just your man. How’s that sound, baby?”

Her chest warmed and her cheeks flushed again as she bit down on her bottom lip to hide her smile. “I think that sounds pretty good.”

He shot her a wink as he took another turn. “So why did you wanna know if I like sports?”

“I don’t know,” Allie shrugged easily. “I guess I just realized that I don’t know those kinds of things about you and I want to.”

Jax’s lips pulled apart in a sexy smirk. “Alright. That’s fair. And, to answer your question, I enjoy football just as much as the next guy, I guess. We’ve usually got the Niners or the Chargers on in the clubhouse on Sundays, and have a pretty good time watchin’ ‘em. I also enjoy the occasional baseball game from time to time, although I gotta admit, I usually can’t sit through a whole game. Nine innings is a little too long for me, but I like to watch a game every once and awhile. How ‘bout you?”

“You mean, do I like sports?”

“Sure,” he laughed good-naturedly.

“I don’t mind football and baseball,” Allie shrugged. “I definitely prefer to go to an  _ actual _ game, instead of just watching on TV. That’s more fun, for sure.”

“Maybe we’ll have to go to a game then,” Jax grinned.

“I think I’d like that,” she smiled back. “Okay, so favorite movie? Favorite TV show? Favorite music?”

“Okay, okay,” Jax laughed. “I get it. How ‘bout I take those one at a time - favorite movie. Let’s see...I don’t know if I could really choose just one. But if I’m being  _ forced  _ to name off a few - “

“And you are.”

“Alright,” he laughed brightly again. The melodic sound warmed her and had her smiling back at him. “ _ Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Fast & the Furious _ ,  _ The Boondock Saints, Shaun of the Dead, Platoon _ ...I don’t know. Is that enough for you for now?”

“Sure,” she smiled. These were the kinds of things she wanted to know about him - since she was staring down the rest of her life, these were the things that would help bind them together, to help them form the kind of relationship she hadn’t known she’d been looking for until she found it.

“How ‘bout you?”

“Well, I, too, enjoy a good Tarantino movie just as much as the next depraved person, but I think if I had to choose, I’d go with  _ Inglourious Basterds  _ or  _ Django Unchained  _ or  _ Once Upon a Time in Hollywood _ .”

“Ah, so you’re a  _ new  _ Tarantino fan, huh?”

“Oh, yeah,” she grinned slyly. “Brad and Leo all the way.”

Jax just rolled his eyes at her and shook his head. “Good thing I know I got no reason to be jealous, darlin’.”

“Well, you should probably know that Jack Dawson was my first real and true crush. I had pictures of him from  _ Titanic  _ covering just about every inch of wall space in my room. Just ask Ope if you don’t believe me.”

He eyed her warily as he took another left turn. “That’s alright. I know I still got Leo beat in that department,” then he shot her a wink, “Don’t I, baby?”

Her lips curled into a grin and she had to bite down on her bottom lip. “You know, if you’re not careful, I might need you to pull over for a few minutes.”

His eyebrows lifted suggestively as his lips curled into a sexy smirk. “Oh, really? Maybe we should keep talkin’ like this. We can push our appointment back a few minutes. Although, if we’re gonna pull over, we should just plan on a solid 15 - you know, just to be thorough about it.”

“So we have an appointment somewhere, huh?”

Now, his lifted eyebrow turned into a wary one. “You’re not gettin’ anymore intel outta me until we get there. Don’t even try, darlin’, ‘cuz it won’t work. Now, we’ve established you like Tarantino, and that shitty  _ Titanic  _ movie. What else?”

“Well,” Allie offered lightly. “I’ve always loved the  _ Star Wars  _ movies.”

“Even the prequels?” Jax shot back with a grin.

“Hey, they were alright. But I’m definitely an original trilogy girl. I always wanted to be Princess Leia growing up - I think I went as her for Halloween just about every year.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” he smiled back at her softly. “Well, we’ve got another thing in common. I, too, have always loved the  _ Star Wars _ movies. The prequels were shit though, and I’m still on the fence about the new ones.”

“That’s fair,” Allie laughed. “Favorite TV show?”

Jax didn’t hesitate. “ _T_ _ he Sopranos _ .”

“Well, now you’ve got something in common with Dan. That is absolutely his favorite show too. I don’t hate it, exactly, but I wouldn’t say that’s my favorite.”

“I guess now I’ve got a few more things to talk to him about when I’m at your house,” Jax grinned and then tipped his chin to her again. “How ‘bout you? Favorite TV show?”

She didn’t need to hesitate either. “ _ The Office _ . I think I could watch it all day every day - any episode, any season. It’s just the best.”

“Huh,” Jax shrugged. “Never seen it.”

“ _ What _ ?” Allie practically shrieked at him. “How is that possible? You know what, don’t answer that. Just so you know, I’m not so sure I can be with someone who’s never seen  _ The Office _ .”

“I guess we’re gonna have to fix that, huh?” he grinned.

“Absolutely, and I think - hey...why are we...what’s going on, Jax?

He didn’t respond as he pulled into the parking lot at Charming PD, taking the first parking stall he could find, and putting her car in park. Then he blew out a deep breath, and turned to her with a wide, shit-eating grin.

“Jax.” Allie started again slowly. “Why are we at the police station?”

He rubbed a hand over his mouth, hiding his smile, before turning to look at her again with glimmering blue eyes.

“Jax…” Allie tried again, her heart thundering in her chest. “How did the vote go?”

That grin on his face only widened. “It was six to two, Allie.”

“Six to two?” she exhaled breathlessly.

“Uh huh,” Jax nodded, his grin shifting into a smirk as he caught his bottom lip underneath a front tooth. “Six to two in favor of tellin’ Dominic King to go fuck himself. Piney and Happy were the only holdouts.”

“What the...I don’t understand. I thought you said it was going to go the other way. What happened?”

His head tilted to the side, his lips curling into a soft smile. “You happened. It was all you, baby.”

“What do you mean?” she frowned back at him, her heart still pounding away in her chest. 

“Well, apparently,” Jax grinned at her, lazily draping a hand over the steering wheel as he spoke. “You and Juice had a conversation about King last night before all that shit went down. And in talking to you, it sounds like he realized you were right about everything - and that you weren’t comin’ at this as an old lady. You were comin’ at this as our lawyer, and givin’ us damn good advice too. I think, in his mind, if you were willin’ to quit, if you were willin’ to put everything on the line like that because this was what you knew was right, not to mention the way you had his back about all the DUI shit, I think he decided it was worth stickin’ with you, instead of taking a stupid risk on a guy like King.”

Allie didn’t even know where to start. That was too much to wrap her head around all at once.

“And then when it came time to vote,” Jax went on with a smile. “Hearing all that swayed Tig too.”

Her eyebrows lifted high into her forehead, and she still couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing. She’d resigned herself to accepting that the vote was probably going to go the way Jax had thought it would, and up until he walked into the studio, Allie had had a sick pit forming in her stomach all day. Now, all that was gone. Now...everything was going to be okay, wasn’t it? Everything she’d been worried about, everything she’d pushed down and hadn’t let herself think about...none of that mattered anymore because they’d done the right thing.

“So after that vote,” Jax continued, his smirk sliding up the side of his face. “We took  _ another _ vote, and we decided to take your other piece of advice too,” he reached inside his cut and pulled out a familiar set of paperwork, “We decided to report his ass, like you said, and we thought you’d like to do the honors.”

Her eyes went wide as she shakily slid her report from his fingertips. “Jax, I…”

“It’s your work, your report,” Jax shrugged with an easy grin. “It should be you.”

At some point, she’d get used to him rendering her absolutely speechless on a regular basis, right? Some day, this would become more normal, wouldn’t it? She wouldn’t get carried away by the smooth, charming, dangerously handsome man sitting next to her? Maybe that was a lost cause, and maybe, deep down, she knew that was okay too. Still, there was something building in the back of her mind, something she’d pushed away years ago and it threatened to bubble up to the surface if she wasn’t careful.

“Come on,” Jax gestured with his head.

Allie felt almost robotic as she opened the passenger side door and stepped out onto the pavement with her report gripped tightly in her hands. This was supposed to be a victory for her - this should be exhilarating and all of the things she could see bouncing around in Jax’s head as he jogged around the side of her car and draped an arm around her shoulders.

They started moving toward the police station’s main entrance, and then her heart just dropped into her stomach. She couldn’t help it. Couldn’t stop it. Couldn’t stop the way her feet stalled in her tracks.

Jax stopped moving when her feet failed on her and he frowned down at her, confusion with just a hint of concern flickering across his face. “You alright, Allie?”

“Yeah,” she murmured, trying to nod and push her way through it. But then…”What if they don’t believe us, Jax?”

His head reared back like he didn’t quite understand what she said. “What do you mean?” he gestured to the report in her hand. “We’ve got all the evidence we need right there. Why wouldn’t they believe us?”

Jax’s eyes drifted down to his cut, and then shot back up to her - as if that was the reason why. It wasn’t. It was right on the tip of her tongue to explain, but she just couldn’t form the words. He was giving her a gift right now, and she was completely ruining it for both of them. There was a time and a place to explain, when she was able to work up to that, and this wasn’t it. Today, she needed to focus on the present and this amazing victory Jax and the club had just handed to her on a platter.

Because that’s what this was, she told herself. It was a win for every single one of those girls who worked in that strip club, who spent everyday afraid, who spent everyday getting abused and taken advantage of - both mentally and physically. This victory would get them the justice they deserved and set them free. 

“Sorry,” she laughed shakily and got her feet moving again. “I didn’t mean to imply they wouldn’t believe us because you’re  _ you _ . That’s not what I...it was stupid. Just forget it, Jax. Let’s go inside.”

He eyed her carefully as they walked up to the police station’s double doors, and when he pulled one of the doors open, gesturing for her to pass through ahead of him, his navy blue eyes seemed to see everything in that moment. Everything she’d ever tried to hide, everything she’d thought she had locked down tight in a box way up high in her mind, everything she’d never wanted him - or anyone, for that matter - to see. And now, she could almost see him mentally working through everything she’d ever said, everything she’d ever done, and she wondered if he was zeroing in on what had happened between them last night, when she’d asked him to keep his hands on the counter, and nowhere near her head.

She knew, in that moment, that she should’ve just kept her mouth shut. But then again, she always seemed to say and do things around him she wouldn’t normally say and do. His eyes were the truth serum to her soul, and the balm to all her open wounds at the same time.

Allie flashed him a quick smile as she stepped inside the station, and although Jax smiled back, it didn’t quite reach his eyes. She chose, instead, to focus on  _ this  _ moment, the one that so many women never got to have, and she decided to run toward it instead of being afraid of it. So, with renewed confidence, and spurred on by the warm hand on her back, she walked right up to the front desk with Jax at her side.

“Hey, there,” Jax nodded to the police officer at the front desk. “Jax Teller. I’m here to see Chief Unser. He should be expecting me.”

The police officer nodded, and after making a quick call, ushered them back, where a stocky, balding man stepped out of a nearby office and waved them over.

“Hey, Jax,” Chief Unser grinned at him and shook his head a little. “It’s been a while. I can only take that to mean you’re stayin’ outta trouble.”

“That’s right,” Jax laughed as the two men reached out to shake hands, and then Jax gestured to her with his free hand. “This is Allie Levy, the club’s lawyer.”

“Ah, sure,” Chief Unser grinned at her, now reaching out to shake her hand. “Jimmy Sweet’s daughter, right? I think I heard something about you workin’ for the club. I’m glad to see it’s workin’ out.”

“And then some,” Jax told him but shot her a sly wink as he spoke.

“Nice to meet you, Chief,” Allie greeted him with a light laugh.

“You too,” the chief told her with a smile as he gestured for them to venture deeper inside his office. “So, what brings you two here today? I gotta say I was a little surprised to hear you’d called.”

“Well,” Jax jumped right to it with an easy shrug, shooting her a quick glance as he spoke. “The club was lookin’ to invest in that new expansion Dominic King is workin’ on.”

Chief Unser frowned, tilting his head to the side. “You mean at that strip club over on the other side of town?”

“That’s right,” Jax grinned good-naturedly. “And in doin’ that, our lawyer here ran a pretty deep audit of the business, did some interviews with the employees, and kicked up some shit we thought you’d be interested in.”

The chief seemed to mull over that a little, rubbing his chin in thought. “And why are you bringing this my way?”

Jax just shrugged with an easy grin. “This is our town, too. And we can’t have this shit happening in our town.”

“Alright. What you got for me then?”

Allie glanced at Jax, but he just smirked and tipped his chin at her, signaling that this was all her show now. She had the control. She had the power. And so, as they sank down into the chairs across from Chief Unser’s desk, Allie handed the chief her report, the same one she’d spent hours slaving over, and launched into the explanation, detailing the stories she’d heard from those women, those  _ girls _ , most of whom had to be underage, and with every word, every syllable, she came back to herself, one piece at a time. Helping those women and those girls was the best kind of victory.

After dropping a proverbial bomb on Charming PD and then walking away, Jax swung an arm around her shoulders as he led her back out into the parking lot. When they stopped in front of her BMW, he slid his arm down so he could put both hands on her shoulders, dipping lower to look her in the eye as he gave her a little shake.

“You alright, baby?”

What she saw swimming in those navy blue eyes told her everything she needed to know. Someday soon, she would need to tell him the things she’d never told anyone out loud, at least not from start to finish. But today was not that day.

“Yeah,” Allie swallowed hard, smiling through the tears that pricked her eyes. “I’m alright. Thank you for this, Jax. I don’t think you know what this meant to me today - everything’s really gonna be okay now, isn’t it?”

Jax smiled down at her softly before wrapping his arms around her to pull her tight against his leather-covered chest. His lips found her hair, murmuring to her, “Yeah, baby. Everything’s really gonna be okay. I think we still need to have that talk though.”

“Right,” she smiled against his chest. “We should. Tonight?”

“Sure, Allie. I know I gotta take you back to the studio, but just let me know what time and I’ll be there.”

He pulled away so he could run his thumb over her cheek and tuck some stray hair behind her ear, and when his lips brushed against hers, his kiss helped some more of those pieces slide back into place. Everything really was going to be okay.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for reading (and commenting)! Thoughts on this one? 
> 
> Now that the King situation has been resolved, Jax and Allie still have some things to work out from their fight from a few chapters ago, and now, I think it's clear to Jax (as it has been to many of you) that Allie has something in her past that she needs to talk about too. It's going to rear its ugly head pretty soon, but Allie really needs to work up to it in order to feel comfortable talking to him about it. 
> 
> As always, thank you again for sticking with this story!


	26. Chapter Twenty-Six

About six hours after dropping Allie back off at the studio, Jax pulled his bike into the driveway of her house, killed the engine, and unsnapped his helmet. He blew out a deep breath, his eyes darting between the garage and the front door. Indecision gnawed at him - should he ring the doorbell? Use the garage door code? He wasn’t really sure what the right play here was, even though he’d finally remembered to throw a change of clothes and some other things in his bike before coming over here. He fully expected he’d be spending the night in her bed again, but he still wasn’t quite sure where her head was at with all this, what her comfort level was with him being in her personal space like this.

After the vote, and after their trip to Charming PD, he had some things he needed to say to her, but he had some questions too. He just wasn’t sure how to approach those questions or if he even should tonight. Maybe it was just like at the vote today - the only thing he could be with her was honest, and he just had to trust she would let him know if he’d overstepped beyond the bounds of where their relationship stood right now. And if he did overstep, he’d back the hell off until she was ready to answer those questions. They had plenty of ground to cover anyway just by focusing on their relationship.

Luckily, though, Allie solved his initial dilemma for him by pulling open the front door and waving him in. So, he followed her lead, grabbing his overnight bag from the back of his bike, and heading up her walkway to push through the screen door where Allie was waiting for him. Although his senses were immediately hit by some pretty amazing Italian spice scents, he didn’t hesitate to pull her into his arms.

“Hey, baby,” he murmured into her neck. “Missed you.”

“Hi, Jax,” Allie laughed in his arms. “I missed you too. How was the rest of your day?”

“Pretty uneventful, which was a relief,” he told her as she slid out of his arms to draw him deeper into the house and he let his overnight bag fall onto the couch so they could move into the kitchen, where that aroma only intensified. “How ‘bout you?”

“Same,” she shrugged. She stepped over to her oven, opened the door to check what was inside, and then grabbed a few potholders to pull a baking dish out. Allie carried it gingerly to the island, and he couldn’t help but follow her movements, fascinated by whatever was in that dish.

He cocked her an easy grin when she set the dish down on a cooling rack on her island. “Did you  _ cook _ for me tonight, darlin’?”

Allie shot him a wary glance over her shoulder. “Don’t get used to it. Consider this my peace offering, but that’s it.”

“I get it,” he chuckled, tipping his chin up to try to get a better look at what was inside that dish. “Even if I expected a home-cooked meal from you every night -”

Allie’s eyebrows lifted in annoyance, but his hands immediately flew up in the air, his shoulders shaking with laughter.

“I said I didn’t expect it, okay?” he laughed, ducking a little when she swatted him with a kitchen towel. “I know better than to expect that.”

“That’s right,” she nodded with narrowed eyes. “I’ve got better things to do with my time. You know, like having a professional career.”

“I know, I know,” he laughed again, hands still up in the air. “I was  _ going  _ to say, that even if I expected a home-cooked meal from you every night, which I don’t, I know you’ve got better things to do with the free time you do have - like  _ me _ , for instance.”

Allie mulled that over, playfully tilting her head to the side in thought. “You’re right. That sounds way more fun than cooking. And more satisfying. Definitely a better use of my free time.”

“I thought you’d see it my way,” he winked at her and then tipped his chin to the baking dish. “What ya got cookin’ in there?”

“Well,” Allie replied easily as she pulled off the lid to reveal bubbling cheese and marinara sauce. “I might’ve talked to Gemma today to find out what your favorite meal was. So, here it is. I hope you enjoy it because it may not be happening again for a very long time.”

He leaned in, basking in the scent of Italian spices, melted cheese, and rich tomato sauce, his mouth already watering. And then his eyes flicked back to her. “You made me lasagna, baby?”

“Like I said,” she shrugged. “Peace offering.”

His lips curled into a soft smile, and he had a sudden urge to just come out with everything now, all at once, but now wasn’t really the right time for that anyway.

“To be clear,” Allie was explaining now as she cut him a piece from the dish. “This is Dan’s recipe, who is, by the way, currently out on a  _ date _ with his little friend, Adrian. Dan’s part-Sicilian, you know, so he’s got quite the collection of family recipes like this. I just did the shopping and followed the recipe.”

So, she’d gone to an actual grocery store for him today too. Wonders never ceased. Now, he just found himself smiling back at her, unable to contain the way his heart felt like it just might burst right in his chest. This woman was  _ it _ . She really was. And as he watched her set a big pile of lasagna on a plate and hand it to him, and then reach inside the refrigerator for a beer, and then set that down in front of him on the counter, he suddenly had a mental picture of what their lives were going to be like moving forward, days, weeks, months,  _ years _ from now. He could see it all in front of him, right there, ready for him to reach out and take it.

And as she cut herself a piece of lasagna for herself and sat down next to him on a barstool by her island, he didn’t want to wait anymore. And least not for this part of their lives.

“Hey, so I’ve been thinkin’ about that story you told me last week,” he started easily before shoveling a healthy portion of noodles, cheese, and sauce into his waiting mouth. Then his eyes widened when his taste buds practically exploded. “Holy fucking shit, Allie.”

“What?” she turned to him, a little bit of apprehension creeping across her beautiful face. “Is it okay?”

He huffed out a laugh and then scooped another bite in his mouth, to tell her, with his mouth full, “Please don’t tell my mom, but this is the best lasagna I’ve ever had in my life. And I’m not just sayin’ that ‘cuz you made it.”

“Well,” Allie shrugged, but her eyes were glimmering with happiness and relief. “Sicilians do know their way around a pasta dish.”

“That they do,” he winked at her. “But you still just  _ made _ the best lasagna I’ve ever had in my life, so don’t sell yourself short.”

“I guess,” she told him easily, her eyes still sparkling a little as she took her own bite and nodded to herself. “Yeah, this is pretty good. So what were you saying before?”

“Right,” he nodded in between bites. “So, I was thinkin’ about that story you told me - you know, the one where you blew my whole life to pieces and turned everything I  _ thought _ I knew sideways and flipped it on its head?”

Allie’s dark eyes narrowed a little bit at that. “You mean my self-care story?”

“That’s the one,” he winked at her.

“What about it?”

“See the thing about that story is...I’ve spent the last, I don’t know, 16, 17 years or so, thinking that, up until now, you pretty much hated the ground I walked on. That you’d sooner string me up by my feet than actually have a real conversation with me. And, I don’t know, set me on fire or something.”

“Hmm,” she tilted her head to the side in thought. “That’s kinda true though. For all intents and purposes, I guess.”

“Sure,” he laughed. “I guess what I’m tryin’ to say is that, here I was - 14, 15, all through high school, pretending I hated your guts because I thought  _ you  _ hated  _ my  _ guts. And then to find out, years later, when I’m in your bed, with your tight little body all wrapped around me, that it really  _ wasn’t _ the case, and that, had I gotten my head out of my ass - like, at any point - we could’ve been doing this a lot sooner. You see how that might completely rip my whole world apart?”

Allie appraised him carefully, her chest rising and falling a little more rapidly, and then finally, she narrowed her eyes at him. “So, you mean to tell me, that the whole reason you were a complete dick to me in high school was because you thought I hated your guts, when in reality, the reason I hated your guts was because you treated me like crap because you thought I hated  _ your  _ guts? And all that could have been avoided if you’d just been, I don’t know, a little  _ nice _ to me?”

He took a long pull from his beer as he thought that through, working the angles and testing out the edges. “Huh. I guess that’s true, isn’t it?”

“Jax,” Allie was laughing now, at least. “You were such a  _ dick  _ to me. It was like you could barely stomach the sight of me. Every time I was even in your general vicinity, you just rolled your eyes at me and acted like I wasn’t even there. Of course I hated your guts.”

“Well,” he frowned. “ _ You  _ always had a tendency to act like your shit didn’t stink around me, darlin’. Let’s not forget that little fact. I sorta took that as a stay-the-hell-away warning and stuck to it. And I really  _ couldn’t _ stomach the sight of you because I wanted you and knew I couldn’t have you...that sounded pretty bad actually, saying that out loud right now. Shit, I really  _ was _ an asshole, wasn’t I?”

“You know what,” Allie just laughed again, leaning toward him to put a hand on his cheek. “I kinda figured my huge crush on you back then wasn’t as one-sided as I’d thought when we were talking at the carnival. I still haven’t quite wrapped my head around it, but all I’ll say is that if you’d been even a  _ little  _ nice to me then, just a little bit, I don’t think I would’ve had any idea what to do with you. I probably would’ve turned and run the other way, screaming my head off. To be honest, I’m not quite sure you would’ve known what to do with  _ me  _ either.”

“That’s true,” he shrugged. “I have a feeling I would’ve crashed and burned with you pretty damn quick back then. I also have a feeling Ope would’ve had a lot more thoughts about it then than he does now.”

“Probably,” she laughed again, tugging on the whiskers on his chin a little as she laughed. “I think it’s safe to say our timing wouldn’t have been right. And I wouldn’t have known what to do with you then, but I do now.”

A smile worked its way across his lips as he leaned forward to brush his mouth against hers. “Me too, baby.”

He gave them a little time to really enjoy this moment, and each other, as their mouths moved together, kissing and tasting, until he gently pushed her back onto her barstool.

“That being said, Allie,” he went on with a soft smile. “I have a few more things I gotta say to you.”

“Okay, Jax.”

He pushed out a deep breath, and then just went for it. “I know we both said a lot of shit to each other that day in your office. I won’t lie - in the moment, I meant a lot of what I said, especially everything about you not dictating what happens at the table. Some of that we gotta work on, but I shouldn’t have talked to you like you were the hired help and I shouldn’t have used the tone that I did. I’m really sorry about that, Allie.”

She lifted a shoulder with a gentle smile. “I sort of  _ am  _ the hired help, aren't I though?”

“No,” he huffed out a laugh. “That’s not how I see you. Yes, you’re employed by the club to do a job for us, but I really see you as my partner in this too, Allie. You know, someone who really knows what they’re doing, way more than any of us with all this business shit, who can really help me figure out what I’m supposed to do here and how to do it. We’d be drowning right now if it weren’t for you -  _ I’d  _ be drowning right now if it weren’t for you. Sometimes, I think the only reason I even sorta have my head above water with this president patch on is because I’ve had you here, right at my side, showing me the way. I don’t think I could do it without you, and I don’t want to.”

Allie sucked in a breath, and he reached out to tangle their fingers together, holding on tight.

“I backed you into a corner that day, and I think it’s gonna take me a little while to forgive myself for putting you in that position. If you felt like you had no other option than to quit, then that was on me. My fault. My mistake. I just about lost my fuckin’ mind because I just can’t see a way I can do this without you. But you didn’t do anything wrong by telling me you were gonna quit if the club moved forward with King - you were within your rights to wanna walk away. You know, after the fact, I think I admired you even a little more than I already do for having the balls to call me out on my bullshit and tell me to shove it up my ass. And in terms of you not dictating what happens at the table, I guess, at least this time, I kinda have to eat my words, don’t I?”

“Jax,” Allie offered lightly. “That wasn’t what I was trying to do when I was talking to Juice. I wasn’t trying to -”

“I know, baby. I know. All you were doin’ was your job and just being a damn good lawyer - and he saw that. We all saw that. You really came through for us, and by holding your ground and digging your heels in, and just being your stubborn, know-it-all self, you saved us from making a really terrible fucking decision that we probably would’ve been living with and regretting for years. So, I guess, what I’m tryin’ to say is that - there’s gotta be some middle ground here, right? I think there are gonna be times when your opinion is gonna sway what happens at that table. It already happened before with that LLC you put together for us, the only real difference was that everyone was in agreement with that one. And I think there are gonna be times when you’re gonna have to back off too, but I think now we’ll both do a better job of knowing when those times are.”

“I think so too,” she nodded with a small smile.

“And,” he went on, inhaling a little shakily now. “I know it doesn’t matter now because the vote went the way we needed it to, but I know that if things had gone the other way, that probably would’ve been it for us. I guess I just don’t see how you could still be with me at home and not be  _ with  _ me at the table because I fucking  _ need _ you with me in and out of the clubhouse. Not to mention the fact that I’m pretty sure you never would’ve been able to forgive me if we’d gone through with it. That would’ve caused some problems for us. But all that being said, I want you to know that I went to bat for us. I put it all out on the line, and I told them I just wasn’t willin’ to lose you because of that deal. As both our lawyer  _ and  _ my old lady. It wasn’t worth it - it still isn’t, and if I ever find myself in that position again, where I have to choose between you or money, I’m gonna choose you every time. I’m not gonna lose you over somethin’ like that. I never wanna lose you at  _ all _ , let alone because of fucking money.”

Allie leaned forward then, with tears swimming in her eyes, and brushed her lips against his mouth.

“I know how you feel,” Allie told him, putting her free hand on his cheek and squeezing her fingers more tightly around his. “I’m not going to apologize for standing my ground and doing what I knew was right. But I  _ am  _ sorry it turned into a fight like that. I  _ am  _ sorry I walked away from you when you asked me to stay. I shouldn’t have done that, and it had to have hurt you. That’s something I never want to do if I can help it.”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged easily, leaning into the hand on his cheek. “You walkin’ away from me after the shit I said to you and the way I said it...I deserved that, Allie. I really did.”

She lifted a shoulder with a sad smile. “I still should’ve stayed and talked to you, and explained everything. I just...I guess my head caught up to everything, you know? This has just been moving so fast, Jax, and -”

“I know,” he sighed. “Part of me wishes it didn’t have to be this way, that we could take at least  _ some  _ of this a little slower, but at the same time, I also don’t wanna waste anymore time with you if I can help it. If we’re gonna be together, then I want it all with you, Allie.”

Her lips lifted at the corners, and she brushed her lips against his again. “I know. Me too. I think I just freaked out a little. Okay, more than a little. Before you came to my office that day, I was just spiralling down a black hole and poor Piper had to deal with all my crazy. After we had that talk about putting a label on this, I sort of realized a couple of things that scared the shit out of me. I felt a little…” she trailed off, inhaling quickly before firing it off, “ _ run over  _ by you, I guess?”

Jax reared back, immediately on high alert. That was  _ not  _ at all what he’d been trying to do the night they’d had the old lady conversation. He’d needed her to come around to it quickly, and the only way he could do that was by appealing to the logical side of that lawyer brain of hers. He’d never meant to make her feel that way. And now knowing that he  _ had  _ made her feel that way...his heart just about fell into his stomach.

“I know,” Allie held up a hand with a smile as if she could read his thoughts. “I know, okay? But, do you have any idea how hard it was for me to realize that I’d just been completely worked over by you without even a shot at an argument? At a defense?  _ I’m  _ usually the one that does that to other people, not the other way around, and I think I was a little angry about it too. I sorta felt...pushed, I guess, into agreeing to something that I wasn’t quite ready for and didn’t quite understand.”

“What didn’t you understand?” he asked quietly, feeling his stomach sink a little more with every word.

“I think the problem was that I didn’t really understand what being an old lady - your old lady, specifically - meant for  _ you _ .”

His lips parted to respond, but she just kept going.

“You put everything in terms of the club, Jax, not in terms of  _ us _ . Everything was about making it easier for the club to accept it, and so I could keep being the club’s lawyer, and that giving me the label of old lady would help with that. The way you said it - it just sort of sounded like it was just a label to you, something transactional that didn’t really mean much, at least not to you. It was just the label we needed to use in order to keep doing what we were doing without taking as much heat from the club in doing it. That it was more about everyone getting what they wanted without anyone getting too pissed off.”

She just dropped that there, and left him to pick it up. For a second, he almost thought he was going to slide right off his barstool. He’d never once thought she would take anything he’d said that night in that way. Now that he really thought about it, sifting through all the things he’d said, and the way he’d said them, he could see why she might’ve taken what he was said to mean her being his old lady was more of a transaction, or more like a condition, in order for them to be together, and he could see why she’d felt pushed. Maybe he  _ had  _ meant to push her a little, purely out of timing and necessity, but he’d never meant to push her like  _ that. _

“And then,” she went with a small smile. “I started wondering if this was just more about sex for you - the non-casual kind, not the other kind. And that, by me being so…” she trailed off there, wincing a little as she searched for the right words.

“Fucking hot?” Jax offered lightly. “Not afraid to ask for what you want? A woman who likes to have sex? A  _ bad  _ girl in bed? Should I keep going?”

“That’s good,” Allie laughed with a sly grin. “I mean I  _ am  _ all of those things. I  _ am  _ a bad girl -”

“Yeah, you are,” he lifted his eyebrows suggestively at her, letting his free hand trail up her thigh.

“Shut up, Jax, and let me finish,” she laughed again, leaning forward to press a quick kiss into his lips. “All of those things are true, but maybe I wasn’t quite ready to show you that side of myself just yet. I just didn’t want this to become all about sex for either of us, and I was worried that by basically being the one initiating everything, I was giving you the signal that I was on board with it being all about sex too.”

“I never got that impression, Allie,” he told her with a smirk. “Was it the happiest surprise of my life when you basically ordered me to make you come, told me you wanted to know what my cock felt like in your hand, and then stared at it like it made your mouth water? And then when you actually called me every day last weekend so I could listen to you get yourself off? Yes. Yes, it was the happiest surprise of my life. Baby, you can talk dirty to me, rip my clothes off and jump me, whatever you wanna do, any time, any day you want, and I’ll never get tired of it. But did I think, for a second, that all you were after with me was sex? No. Definitely not. And if I made you feel that way, then all you were seeing was me having the time of my life with you - that was just me havin’  _ fun _ with you, the best kind of fun. That’s all.”

“That’s good to know,” she smiled, and then that smile faded a little. “I think one of the reasons I got so in my head about this was because this is the first time I’ve really let myself fall into something like this so quickly, and so deeply. I’ve just never  _ felt _ this before, and it terrified me. I thought it was possible that maybe I was up to my neck in feelings for you, and that you were only up to your knees. And then...and then we had sex. That world-rocking, mind-blowing, life-altering sex, and I just...I didn’t know how to handle all of that all at once, and so I ran.”

He felt his lips lift at the corners. “I get it, baby. I really do. It took me a little while to really understand what happened in your office because I’ve never felt that before either.”

“I see now that I was just being stupid,” she murmured, “and that I was just scared to get hurt.”

His lips parted again, but she just shook her head, silently asking him for the time and the space to say what she needed to say. So he let her have it. And then she surprised him by pulling her hands away from them, twisting her hands together with her eyes firmly on the knots in her lap.

“I haven’t really done this since I was in college. You know, had a serious relationship, or at least one that  _ I  _ was serious about,” she told him, her eyes still locked firmly on her hands in her lap. “And it’s just that...the last time I did this,” she swallowed tightly and chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, her chest heaving in a way that made him nervous, “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you. I  _ do  _ want to tell you, and I want you to know...I’m just not in a place yet where I can say it all out loud to you. I’ve  _ never  _ really said it out loud before, at least not from start to finish.”

He leaned forward, careful not to move too fast, and rested a hand on her cheek. “Did somebody hurt you, baby?”

Allie swallowed hard, her dark eyes swimming with unshed tears, and she nodded into his hand. 

He’d figured as much and had been terrified by everything he already knew. He’d known that there was something about the way she avoided alcohol at all costs that wasn’t right. That there had to be another reason why she’d reacted the way she did to those interviews with those dancers. That there was maybe another reason why she’d dug her heels in so deep and stood her ground so fiercely with everything she’d found on that strip club. That there was something about her stressing  _ consent  _ in relation to those girls at that strip club that had set warning bells off in his head. That the only reason she’d asked him to keep his hands on the counter last night was because she didn’t want them anywhere near her head. And that the only reason she’d questioned whether Unser would believe them was because she just might’ve had a similar experience herself. 

But the confirmation that all those fears were actually _true_ , that someone had actually _hurt_ her - he wasn’t going to let himself sift through the possibilities of how she’d been hurt just yet - something dark and ugly twisted and coiled itself around him, but he pushed that down for now. He could wade through that dark current later. He could track that motherfucker down later. Tonight, he just needed to focus on her. To focus on _them._

“There’s nothin’ you can’t tell me,” Jax told her, gently tucking some hair behind her ear as he spoke. “Nothin’ I wouldn’t understand.”

“I know,” she whispered, leaning in to murmur against his lips, “I love you, Jax.”

His lips curled up against her mouth, his chest warming and tightening at the same time, and his heart thundered in his chest as he whispered back, “I love you, Allie.”

God, that felt so good to say out loud.  _ Finally _ . Fucking  _ finally _ . So, he slipped his tongue through her parted lips, deepening the kiss, pulling her in, pressing her against his chest, and just needing to feel her closer to him. If someone had him 15 years ago that he’d be sitting here now, in her kitchen, hearing her tell him she loved him, saying it back to her, kissing her like this, loving her like this...he probably would’ve punched that fucking asshole in the face for being so cruel. Now, he felt differently. Now, he saw the whole rest of his life in front of him and what a beautiful life it was going to be with her.

Allie pulled away with a smile on her face and hopped off her barstool as she put the cover back on the lasagna. Then he laughed when she slipped her cardigan off her shoulders and tossed it onto the other side of the counter. Following her lead, he stood up from his barstool, and slid his cut off, setting it on top of her cardigan. With a smirk, she started to slip her leggings down her legs, revealing the panties he’d seen her put on this morning.

“You scared me, Jax,” Allie informed him with a steady voice as she pulled her leggings off one leg at a time.

“You kinda scared me, too,” he grinned back, unbuttoning his flannel, shrugging out of it, and throwing it on top of his cut.

She tilted her head to the side with a sly grin playing on her beautiful lips, then she pulled her tank top over her head. “I’m not scared anymore.”

He unbuckled his belt, unbuttoned his jeans, unzipped his fly and pushed his jeans down, stepping out of them one leg at a time, and kicking them off to the side. “Me either, baby.”

Allie pulled her lacy bra over her head and tossed it on top of his flannel. “You should probably know that I’m on the pill. I feel like that’s an important thing for you to know.”

He nodded slowly, his lips pulling apart in a knowing smirk as he pulled his T-shirt over his head. “I’d say it is. I’m clean, Allie.”

Her lips curved up the side of her mouth as she nodded almost immediately. “Me too.”

Allie hopped up on the island and he didn’t waste any time, his fingertips slipping up her bare thighs to hook his fingers around the side of her panties and slide them down her legs. Then he set them gingerly on top of the rest of their clothes on the counter, grinning at her slyly. She met that challenge by slipping her hands inside his waistband and then pulling his boxers down his thighs. After shoving them the rest of the way down and stepping one foot out just to give himself some easier access, he settled himself in between her legs, finding her ready and waiting for him.

“I’m good with this if you are,” he murmured against her neck, pressing his lips into her skin.

She nodded, grinning at him and then biting down on her bottom lip. “I wanna feel you, Jax.”

His lips curled and as he readied himself right where he needed to be, he brought both hands around her face to make sure she was looking him in the eye when he said this, “Just so we’re clear, Allie, being  _ my  _ old lady means I’m gonna love you for the rest of my life, okay? That’s what that means. And it means I’m gonna spend the rest of my life making you happy and keeping you safe. I need you to understand that - and the only reason I didn’t say all that to you when we first talked about it was because I wasn’t sure if you were ready to hear it and if I was ready to say it. It’s not just a label to me. It’s a commitment, and it’s a promise, and it’s one I’m makin’ to you right now.”

Her eyes misted a little even as he slipped inside her, groaning into her mouth at the feel of her warm silk around his bare skin. He’d never done this before - never not worn protection, and he didn’t regret it. This was a first for him - and it had been a while since he’d had a first, especially on this kinda playing field. But if there was ever a woman he was going to do this with, to trust like this, to  _ love _ like this, it was always going to be her.

There’d been too many reasons to always wrap up before her. So many reasons, in fact, that he got himself tested regularly just to be safe. And now, knowing what he knew, knowing they were good in that area without anything to worry about, he wanted this with her too. He trusted her as much as he loved her. And it was clear she trusted him too.

“I love you,” she whispered against his lips, sighing as his movements picked up their pace. “I love you, Jax.”

“Love you,” he murmured into her skin. “I’m sorry the first time we did this wasn’t this way. I wanted it to be.”

“I know,” she smiled into his lips. “Me too. It was the best sex I’ve ever had in my life though so I guess I don’t regret how it happened too much.”

He smirked down at her, gripping her hips so that the angle was a little bit better so he could go just a little bit deeper, and her head dipped down against her neck, a low moan vibrating from her throat.

“Let’s see if we can top that one right now, baby,” he grinned, grinding his hips into that sweet spot, her moan filling up the kitchen.

* * *

Allie leaned back into her couch, pulling her legs up underneath her as she watched Jax rummage around her refrigerator for another beer. She’d only picked up a six-pack for him tonight, but made a mental note that she’d probably have to stock up again soon. After all, she planned on him spending the night as often as he could. Now that she’d had him in her bed, and on her kitchen counter, she just wanted him everywhere. She’d liked seeing him in her kitchen, perched on that bar stool, eating the meal she’d made for him, and drinking the beer she gave him. She’d liked him even better naked in her kitchen as he pressed her up against the island, loving her into oblivion.

They’d  _ almost _ topped that first time. It was pretty darn close, but while Jax had looked a tiny bit disappointed about that, she’d reassured him that it was only because that first time  _ was _ the first time. That didn’t take away from what they’d just had on the counter, the gift they’d given each other, the trust they’d put in each other, and the love they’d made.

Jax ambled back to the couch with a beer for him in one hand and a bottle of water for her in the other, now just dressed in his jeans and T-shirt. She wished she could see him walking around shirtless in his boxer briefs, but Dan would probably get a little too much of a thrill from that.

She scooted over on the couch to make some more room for him as he set their drinks down on the coffee table, and then he scooped up his plate to finish off the lasagna they’d long forgotten about earlier. At least he seemed to like it - she hadn’t cooked a real dinner like that in months, so her skills were a little rusty.

“So this show you’re makin’ me watch,” he tossed over his shoulder as she scrolled through Netflix to find it. “It’s your favorite, huh? What if I don’t like it?”

“Well, Jax, then I’d say it was nice knowing you.”

Now, he turned to her with his eyebrows lifted high in his head. “That’s a lotta pressure to put on one TV show, darlin’.”

“Have no fear. You’ll like it.”

He just shrugged as he shoveled some more lasagna into his mouth - it was even a little cold now, but he was still wolfing it down like he hadn’t eaten a real meal in months. And, considering he lived in the clubhouse now, maybe he really hadn’t. So, with nothing else left to do, she hit play on the first episode and crossed her fingers. Jax had a sense of humor. He’d made fun of her at every turn since she’d first started working for the club. He  _ had  _ to like  _ The Office _ . There was no way he wouldn’t.

Jax leaned forward on her couch with his plate, shoveling more lasagna into his mouth as Michael Scott explained that his proudest moment wasn’t when he increased profits by 17 percent, or cut expenditures without losing a staff member, but when a young Guatemalan guy came to him and asked him to be the godfather of his child - but then Michael had to let him go, because he sucked, and Jax laughed out loud.

Yeah, they were going to be just fine.

By the time they’d worked through Diversity Day and Michael Scott’s impression of Chris Rock, Jax had set his empty plate on the coffee table, leaned back with his feet propped up on the table and his arm draped around her shoulders, laughing right along with her. She curled herself into him, reveling in the feeling of his arm around her, his warm body pressed up against her, his presence on her couch and in her life.

He seemed to catch her shift in mood, and even though the episode was still playing, he grabbed the blanket hanging over the side of the couch, threw it out across them, and then gently lowered her down on the cushion. With her back pressed up against his chest, he fixed the blanket so it covered both of them, and then he just didn’t waste any time. His fingertips splayed over her stomach, playing with the edge of her tank top before slipping underneath it to palm her breast.

“Jax,” she laughed. “What about the show?”

He just bypassed that completely, his fingertips now drifting down to her leggings. “You wanna get on top this time, baby?”

While it was right on the tip of her tongue to tease him for wanting to go again so quickly, he’d had her at  _ you wanna get on top _ . In fact, all he’d really had to do was say the word and she was ready for him. So, she answered by reaching for his belt buckle, muffling his laugh with her lips.

“I’m not sure why we bothered to put our clothes back on,” she murmured against his lips. She made quick work of pulling his jeans and his boxer briefs down while his hands worked on her leggings.

“Hey, I got an idea,” he smirked up at her. “I’m thinkin’ I pick you up tomorrow afternoon, just like I did today, and then we get in your car and find a nice, quiet, isolated place to park. Don’t worry - I’ll take you out to lunch after.”

“After I have my way with you, you mean?” she cocked an eyebrow at him as she lifted her hips and eased herself down on him.

His hands moved to her hips, helping her move against him with just the right amount of sweet friction. “What else would we do?”

She dipped down so she could press their faces together. “Only if I get to be on top.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

His lips caught her laughter as they moved together, and when she arched her back, dropping her head back into her neck, his hands slid up her stomach to knead her breasts. While she’d always enjoyed sex before, and actively sought it out when she had the energy and the time, she saw now that what she’d been doing before had just been paper-thin. Meaningless. Empty. Just an itch that needed to be scratched. But this...this was something different. This was that connection she’d always sought but had never really found. Nothing had been as satisfying. As fulfilling. There was something behind it too, something that had a name, something she wasn’t sure she’d ever really allow herself to feel before now.

She thought she’d felt it once, years ago. But she’d been wrong. So wrong. That was nothing compared to the depth of what she felt for Jax, and she knew, the depth of what he felt for her. And as she moved on top of him, taking and giving at the same time, the bonds between them only tightened and became more ironclad.

And then the door through the garage opened.

Allie froze. Jax’s fingers dug into her hips, silently begging her not to stop rocking against him.

“Are you kidding me?” Allie whispered harshly. 

He just smirked at her as his hands brought her hips back down, and she closed her eyes at the feeling.

“I may be a bad girl, Jax,” she whispered again, narrowing her eyes at him when his shoulders started shaking with laughter. “But I’m not  _ that  _ bad.”

As familiar voices filled the hallway, she shot off him in an instant, frantically covering her lower body with the blanket, leaving Jax to struggle to get his jeans back up over his hips, laughing at her while he did it too.

He was still laughing at her as Dan and Adrian appeared in the kitchen, chatting away happily and none the wiser.

“Hey, Alexandra,” Dan called over his shoulder, “Hi, friend. How was dinner? Did my recipe suffice?”

Jax and Allie answered at the same time:

“It was great.”

“Yes!”

Dan whipped around, his dark eyes zeroing in on the blanket hitched around Allie’s hips, and the way Jax sat on the couch, hunched over with his elbows on his knees. He took a step closer, tilting his head to the side as an evil grin spread across his face.

“Hey, Jax?” Dan called out.

“Yeah, bro?”

“Why are your jeans unbuckled?”

Jax glanced down at his waist, and then shrugged before shooting Allie a wink. “Why do you think?”

“Oh, I see. We interrupted you two having  _ sex _ on the same couch I sit on every day. I’m not convinced that’s sanitary.”

Jax leaned in to murmur in Allie’s ear, “If he doesn’t think  _ that’s  _ sanitary, how do you think he’d feel about what we were doin’ on the counter an hour ago…”

Allie huffed out a laugh, pressing her face into his shoulder to muffle the sound.

“You know what?” Dan just hitched a hand on his hips. “I don’t think I like the two of you over there, whispering nonsense about me. That’s not what friends do,” and then he held up a finger, “I think I know the problem here. I  _ texted _ Allie a little over a half hour ago to give you guys fair warning we were coming back, but I see now that maybe I should’ve called instead? Then you might’ve actually heard your phone while you were otherwise  _ preoccupied _ ?”

“I think that sounds like a good plan,” Allie allowed, still a little off-balance and foggy from what they’d just been doing. “And we’ll do the same for you guys.”

“Perfect. Now put your pants back on Alexandra, or actually, you know what? Give us a couple of minutes to steal some of your leftovers from  _ my  _ recipe, and then we’ll be out of your hair and then you can go back to doing whatever it was you were doing.”

So, Allie sat on the couch, naked from the waist down with a blanket wrapped around her, with Jax next to her, both feet on the floor and his elbows on his knees, jeans still unbuckled, as Dan and Adrian took their sweet time oohing and aahing over the lasagna she’d made, cutting themselves a piece from the baking dish, and reheating it in the microwave. Through it all, she could practically see Jax’s shoulders grow tenser and tenser, as just a little bit of annoyance started to roll off him in waves. Dan, of course, didn’t miss a beat as he made a habit of glancing over his shoulder at them on the couch with a shit-eating grin on his face.

After putting on a little show about how a proper Sicilian lasagna needed to be paired with a proper Sicilian red wine - because that was just  _ correct _ \- Dan and Adrian took their plates and their wine glasses up the stairs with them, waving at them until they disappeared.

Jax leaned in to murmur, “This is gonna get weird real quick, isn’t it, darlin’?”

“I think it already is,” Allie laughed. “It’s still not as weird as our parents though.”

Jax grimaced and scrubbed both hands over his face before glancing down at his waist. “Aaaannd you just killed it. Nice work, Allie.”

“Aw,” Allie laughed. “I’m not too worried,” she told him as she gave his shoulders a push to lean him back against the couch’s backrest so she could straddle his waist, hitching the blanket around them so she had a little bit of cover. He laughed against her lips, pushing his jeans back down to his ankles to give her the access she wanted.

As it turned out, there really hadn’t been anything to worry about.

* * *

Allie shut the driver’s side door of her car with her hip, careful not to jostle the dish in her hands in the process. Dan had his head ducked in the back seat of her car, grabbing the slow cooker they’d packed away tight before leaving her house. They’d shown up nice and early, leaving no risk of Gemma’s ire for being even remotely off-task or not following her carefully dictated instructions.

Gemma had decided on a spread of comfort food for tonight - complete with a roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, which Dan now carried in the slow cooker, green bean casserole, which Allie had been tasked with making, mac and cheese casserole, which Lyla had been assigned to, and an assortment of other side dishes Gemma had decided to whip up herself, along with taking care of the turkey and the stuffing. Dan, of course, also had brought a big platter of chocolate chip cookies, but they had to make another run to the car for that.

Allie carefully balanced her green bean casserole against her hip so she could ring the doorbell. And then they waited, and waited, and then waited some more. Now, Dan was pounding on the front door.

“Gemma!” he yelled. “Open up, my queen! We’re here!”

Two seconds later, Gemma whipped the door open, breathless, her hair a little wild, her makeup just a tiny bit skewed, and Allie felt her lips pull apart in a slow grimace. She gripped the baking dish between her hands tighter until her knuckles turned white, her eyes darting past Gemma to get a better look inside the house. There were no other cars in the driveway, though, except theirs.

“Well, you two are nice and early,” Gemma grinned brightly, still a little too breathless for Allie’s liking. “I wasn’t expecting you quite yet.”

Dan waggled his eyebrows at her. “Yeah, we can  _ see _ that. Should we go hang out in Allie’s car for a little bit so you can, you know,  _ finish up _ ?”

Gemma just laughed and batted a hand at him, taking the slow cooker out of his hands. “Oh, don’t worry. We’re already finished.”

She gestured with her head for them to follow her inside, and Allie took a deep breath, doing her best to mentally prepare herself for what she knew she was probably about to see. It didn’t take long for her dad to appear from inside a different hallway, one which most definitely had to lead to a bedroom, and he waved at them as he headed for the refrigerator.

“So,” Dan leaned in so he could murmur to her, “It looks like  _ literally _ everybody and their mother is getting laid around here, huh?”

Allie just blew out a deep breath. And it was then that she realized, with a sinking feeling, that the reason she hadn’t seen her dad’s car in the driveaway was probably because it was already in Gemma’s garage. She shuddered a little at that thought, crinkling up her nose in a grimace as they moved inside the house.

“Well, I say good for everybody,” Dan smirked at her, his eyes glinting with mischief. “This is gonna be so much fun tonight.”

“Maybe for you,” Allie grumbled.

“You know, why _did_ you agree to let him come tonight? You’re obviously not really okay with it, at least not yet.”

Allie just shrugged. “I realized he kinda had a point when he said all the attention would be on the weird old couple in the room tonight, and maybe not as much on me and Jax. It was hard to argue with once I really thought about it. I’ll take discomfort over open hostility any day of the week, especially right now.”

Dan frowned back at her with some genuine concern even as Gemma walked into earshot to take the baking dish from Allie’s hands.

“You really think there’s gonna be open hostility tonight?”

That got Gemma’s attention, and she stopped in her tracks with Allie’s baking dish still in her hands. “I don’t know if anyone’s gonna be outright  _ hostile _ to you, sweetheart. They know better than to pull that shit in my house.”

“I’m still a little nervous about it,” Allie admitted with a sigh. “Although, I’m sure the sideshow that is  _ this _ ,” she gestured to her dad, who’d already settled into one of the chairs at the table, and then back to Gemma, “is probably going to take a lot of the heat off Jax and me tonight.”

“What do you mean sideshow?” Jimmy called out from the table, but Gemma just huffed out a laugh, clearly not ruffled by that.

“You know what I mean, Dad,” Allie shot back pointedly.

He just shrugged, clearly willing to just let that roll off his shoulders. Hopefully, though, Jimmy’s presence, and Dan’s too for that matter, would be enough of a buffer and enough of a distraction, to take most of the focus away from her. She’d never particularly enjoyed being the center of attention, at all, and she’d been dreading this ever since Gemma told her what she’d planned. While she could appreciate the effort, especially the fact that Gemma was obviously comfortable enough with Allie’s relationship with her son that she’d do something like this, there was a part of her that still thought this was maybe too soon. That maybe they’d needed to let the dust settle, especially given that fact that Jax and Piney had literally been at each other’s throats just a few days before. There was bound to be some tension tonight, and she wasn’t entirely sure she was ready for it.

Well, she’d probably  _ never  _ really be ready for it, so maybe Gemma was on to something by just ripping off the bandaid. Still, this was her first real  _ event  _ as the old lady of an MC president. She was still having trouble wrapping her head around how that had happened, and what kind of expectations really came with that kind of role, in this kind of club, around these kinds of people. And she was nervous about it. So fucking nervous she’d do or say something wrong and be the cause of more problems and more tension.

With that thought, Allie busied herself with helping Gemma prep the table and put out the rest of the food, carefully avoiding her dad’s continued presence at the table, until Lyla and Piper showed up with their arms full of food too, and then, finally, until that tell-tale roar of motorcycles blasted down the street.

Now, with the table ready and all the food sitting out, just waiting to be eaten, there was nothing left to do. Nowhere she could try to hide. At least that rising anxiety was also coupled with those familiar butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. Allie hadn’t seen him all day, at least not since they’d parted ways this morning after coffee and omelets, made of course, by Dan. Club business had kept him away this afternoon, canceling their plans for lunch and a little something on the side, which, she supposed, was something else she’d just have to get used to. Their work, both together and separate, would create some physical and mental distance between them at times, but it was nothing they couldn’t handle. No problem they couldn’t solve together.

She smiled a little at that, tilting her head to the side in thought as the small group inside waited for the larger group outside to come in the house. Allie knew she was slowly but surely inching toward it, to finally sit down and tell Jax what she needed to tell him, but his understanding and his willingness to let her go at her own pace, on her own time, was a gift she hadn’t anticipated - and one she hadn’t known she’d needed until he handed it to her.

Somehow, someway, Jax had ended up being exactly what she needed, in every possible way.

And it was then, with those thoughts filling her head, that the door opened and a flurry of Samcro cuts flowed through the front entryway. Allie tried to distract herself by reaching inside the refrigerator for a bottle of water, and when she turned around, most of the club had already filed inside the dining room, slapping each other on the shoulder as they took their places at the table, and eyeing Jimmy a little warily.

So, maybe having her dad here tonight might not have been the worst idea. They all knew him already, obviously, but they’d never seen him in this environment before, outside of the studio and the business partnership Jimmy had with the club. This was uncharted territory for everyone, for sure.

Allie wasn’t all that surprised when Bobby ambled over to her first, wrapping an arm around her neck and pressed a light kiss to her cheek.

“How’s it goin’, sweetheart?” he asked easily.

“I’m okay,” Allie exhaled, her heart pounding now as she realized that some of the other club members, Tig and Piney, in particular, were watching this exchange carefully. “How are you? It’s been a little while since I’ve seen you.”

“I’m good, I’m good,” he laughed heartily and wagged a finger at her. “You’ve been busy, I hear, so I’m not too upset about it.”

She laughed, hoping and praying that it didn’t sound as forced to anyone else’s ears at it to hers, and when she glanced over Bobby’s shoulder, her eyes found Juice. He tipped his chin to her in greeting with a small smile, and she flashed him a quick smile back. Everyone else, though, kept a safe distance away from her, despite the fact that Tig shot her a wave from the other side of the room, and she supposed that was okay for now. It just needed time, just like Gemma had said.

Bobby good-naturedly broke the initial awkwardness by plopping himself down in a chair next to Jimmy and started chatting him up. They were already in an animated discussion of the last 49ers game when she saw Opie’s hulking figure step through the small crowd to reach for his wife, who’d seemed to completely pop overnight and now had a very cute, very visible baby bump underneath her tight tank top, and then after releasing his wife, Opie headed right for her. 

He wrapped those long arms around her in a tight bear hug and whispered in her ear, “You’re doin’ great so far, Al. Just keep doin’ what you’re doin’ and everything’s gonna be fine.”

“Thanks, Ope.”

As Opie pulled away, he put a hand to her cheek with a soft smile. “I love you, you know.”

Allie felt her face part in a happy smile. “I love you too.”

He grinned down at her, giving her cheek a light squeeze, before he stepped aside, where Jax was waiting. He didn’t hesitate - in fact, there was more than a little agitation on his handsome face that he’d had to actually  _ wait  _ for his turn with her, and Jax’s arms slipped around her waist before she really had time to get her bearings again.

“Hey, baby,” Jax murmured in her ear before pressing his lips to her temple. “You’re lookin’ particularly smokin’ tonight.”

“Hello to you too,” she laughed, smiling when he brushed his lips over hers. It was just a brief contact, maybe because it had to be given their audience, but it was enough for him to say everything he needed to say to her, and to the club members who were watching - they were together now, they were  _ solidly _ together now, and there was nothing anyone could do about it, other than to accept it and move on.

“Hey,” he was smirking at her now as he tipped his chin to her. “You think you could grab me a beer?”

Allie’s eyes narrowed at him playfully, even as that smirk on his face deepened mischievously. “Uh,  _ no _ . I will not be serving you tonight. You know where the coolers are.”

Jax’s eyebrows lifted suggestively, his shoulders shaking with laughter as he held up his hands and stepped around her. “A’ight. A’ight. Just wanted to see what you’d do, darlin’.”

“Uh huh,” she nodded to him, her eyes still narrowed playfully. “Sure. Bet you would’ve happily taken that beer from me if I’d gotten you one.”

Jax just winked at her as he stepped away, heading around the table to where Gemma had the coolers stocked and ready. It was one thing to get him a beer when they were at home, enjoying a night together. It was a whole other thing to do it when they were around other people, and at least he seemed to understand that, even if he had some fun with her while doing it. Allie wasn’t interested in waiting on him, pretty much ever, and she supposed, given the pretty sexist and patriarchal culture she’d found herself in, she was lucky Jax’s expectations on that were solidly aligned with her own.

After some awkward mingling, Gemma corralled her over to the table, which had already pretty much filled up, just as Jax dropped into his seat at the head of the table. Allie’s eyes fell to the empty seat at his left, the same one Gemma had been sitting in the last time she was here for a family dinner, and her steps stalled in their tracks. Then she felt Gemma gently push her forward, gesturing for her to take the empty seat next to Jax.

Allie’s eyes flicked to Gemma worriedly, suddenly unsure of what she was supposed to do.

“Come on, sweetheart,” Gemma told her gently, gesturing to the empty seat one more time. “Take your seat.”

So, with a deep inhale for strength, and some much-needed confidence, Allie stepped around the table, putting a hand on Jax’s shoulder as she passed him, and sank down into the empty seat at his left. Jax’s navy blue eyes flicked to her immediately, a soft smile playing on his lips, and then with a wink, he reached underneath the table to twist their fingers together.

She smiled back at him before turning her attention back to the table, quickly realizing that Gemma had taken the seat next to her, with Jimmy on the other side of her. Dan had gotten wedged between Bobby and Tig at the other end of the table, chatting away happily with them and clearly having the time of his life basking in these new surroundings and all these new people. Opie nodded to her from across the table, and Lyla waved brightly from her seat next to her husband. Even Piper was smiling, a far cry from her attitude since the last family dinner Allie had seen her at.

Just as the dishes started to get passed around, Gemma cleared her throat, effectively halting all the movement at the table.

“Before we get started here, I’ve got somethin’ I’d like to say,” Gemma told the table, a smile creeping across her face. “I know there have been some changes at this table, namely,” she gestured to Jimmy with an exaggerated flourish, “the fact that I’ve been sleeping with your business partner here.”

That got some laughter, easing a little more of the tension, and Jax shook his head at his mother with a smirk. He squeezed Allie’s fingers underneath the table, as if he just wanted to make sure she knew he was still there, still next to her, and that he wasn’t going anywhere.

“And I appreciate your willingness to just sorta accept it,” Gemma continued, glancing at Allie with a nod. “I know it came as a surprise to all of you - and it surprised me too. But I appreciate your support and your love because this has been a rough year for everyone, and the last thing I’d ever wanna do is make things worse, especially within the club. So, all that being said, I wanted us to all come together again at this table and have a meal together and just get used to these changes. Thank you for coming tonight,” and then she raised her beer in the air, as everyone else followed her lead, “here’s to family!”

Allie gingerly raised her water bottle up in the air, happily clinking it with Gemma’s beer bottle, lifting it up again to Opie, who matched her gesture with a grin, and then she finally turned to Jax, who was waiting patiently for her attention. 

He winked at her as he lifted his beer bottle to her, and murmured, “To family.”

Allie nodded, feeling her heart squeeze in her chest. “To family.”

Then he shot her one last wink and squeezed her fingers one more time before letting go of her hand so they could dig into the meal, sharing it with their family crowded around the table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - So now they've really got some things worked between them - the air has been cleared, and they've finally said some things they really needed to say to each other. After this chapter, I think they're pretty solid, you know? They're staring down the rest of their lives with the other, and they know that. I wanted them to have a few chapters for the dust to settle a little bit from their big fight and the vote about King, and to give them some room to strengthen their relationship and settle into being together before I drop the hammer again ;)
> 
> On that note, I hope you all have a happy holiday! Be safe and eat something warm and festive!


	27. Chapter Twenty-Seven

Jax sauntered through the hallway of Sweet Productions riding on a high. Not only was he dropping by to scoop his old lady up for lunch, but they had some very important errands to run during her lunch break too. And luckily, nobody in the club had batted an eye that they were the ones running these particular club errands today. In the week since family dinner at Gemma’s house, the dust had finally seemed to settle, at least for the most part.

Piney was still being an asshole. Still glaring daggers whenever their lawyer came up in conversation. Still looking like he wanted to wrap his oxygen tank cord around Jax’s neck and strangle him. Everyone else seemed willing to at least ride it out for the time being, especially in light of how the vote on King had played out, although he got the feeling Tig, Chibs, and Happy still weren’t 100 percent on board. They were still pretty impassive, still pretty wary whenever Allie’s name or her position within the club - either of them - came up in conversation.

Not like anyone had anything to worry about. Allie had been hard at work, digging for some business leads for them and tomorrow, she was going to present those leads to the club. This would also be the first time she was back inside the clubhouse since she’d dropped off all her intel on Caruso and her report on King. 

He figured, if it was up to her, she’d probably prefer to keep her distance from the clubhouse for a little bit longer, but it wasn’t like she was showing up for a party. This was business, and she had a job to do for them anyway. In his mind, the sooner they could all get back to doing what they did best, the better. And, the sooner the rest of the club could just get their heads out of their asses about this, the better. They needed to be reminded that she was the best lawyer they’d ever had, and  _ ever _ would have, and that she really had the club’s best interest in mind. That being said, given the way Tig, Chibs, and Happy still felt about all this, they would also conveniently be out on a run tomorrow too. At this point, he didn’t feel like pushing it. All they needed was some more time.

But he  _ had _ made a point not to hide any phone conversations he had with Allie when he was in the clubhouse, and he’d been sure to drop a few  _ I love yous _ when people were within earshot. Lately, though, it seemed like he was just at the clubhouse during the day, during normal work hours. The only night he’d spent away from her had been last Friday, and that was unavoidable because he couldn’t miss a Friday night at the clubhouse, especially not right now. 

Right now, he just needed to come and go the way he normally did. Although, he had to admit being at the clubhouse on Friday would’ve been a lot more fun if Allie had been there too. He’d spent the whole night trying to keep himself from texting or calling her, waiting until he finally passed out in his dorm, and...the night had just dragged, mainly because it seemed like every goddamn croweater in the place had offered to take their clothes off for him. He’d been almost constantly batting them away and pushing them off on someone else, to the point where he just called it a night, retreated to his dorm, and locked his door behind him.

Sometime soon, he needed to get Allie to the clubhouse for a Friday night party. Maybe not next Friday or the one after that, but as soon as she was even sort of coming around to the idea, he just needed to get her there.

With that thought, he knocked on the door to Allie’s office, tipping his chin to Dan and Adrian as they passed him in the hallway.

“Hi, friend,” Dan waved to him brightly.

“‘Sup, bro,” Jax grinned at him, shaking his head a little at Dan’s attire. 

Dan and Adrian were clearly on their way to a set, if their skin tight boxing shorts and greased up, hairless chests were any indication. Adrian, for his part, waved a little sheepishly...and maybe that was fair. Especially considering Jax had accidentally, and very literally, bumped into him on his way out of the upstairs bathroom in the middle of the night, and especially considering both of them had been shirtless and only wearing boxers at the time. Yeah, it hadn’t taken long for that to get weird at all. 

Dan obviously seemed happy with the guy - that was all fine and good. He’d heard Dan and Adrian mention something about Adrian’s three roommates, so on some level, Jax could understand why they might prefer to be at Allie’s house, where Dan also lived, and where there was only Jax and Allie to co-exist with and where it was probably a lot quieter too. 

The problem was that four could become a crowd. And it was already heading that way pretty damn quickly too. But how to even start that conversation with Allie...that would open up a whole can of worms he wasn’t quite sure anyone, himself included, was really ready for.

“Like my outfit?” Dan called from over his shoulder as they retreated down the hallway.

Jax just huffed out a laugh, cupping his hands over his mouth to call back, “Lookin’ good, bro.”

Dan’s cackle echoed down the hallway just as Allie flung her office door open, a little breathless and completely beautiful, and she ducked around him to stick her head out in the hallway, snickering at the sight of Dan and Adrian walking away in their skin-tight boxing shorts.

“Hello to you too, darlin’,” Jax laughed, grabbing her around the waist to pull her back against his chest so he could drop a kiss on her neck.

Allie laughed in his arms, turning around so she could smile up at him. “Hey, Jax - sorry. I heard Dan’s voice in the hallway and I just couldn’t help myself. I mean, did you  _ see  _ what he was wearing?”

“That I did.”

“And you realize his boyfriend’s name is Adrian?  _ And  _ they’re filming a boxing movie today? You realize that, right? Actually, it’s the  _ sequel  _ to the one they filmed right after Lyla’s wrap party. Apparently, my dad has already decided it’s going to be a hit and wants a series in the can before the first one is even released. He’s got all the marketing and the parties all planned out already.”

Jax shifted on his heel to glance down the hallway one last time before wagging a finger at Allie. “You know, I did not make that connection right away. I think I was too distracted by the shorts to know which way was up, honestly.”

“They  _ are  _ pretty tight,” Allie allowed with a grin.

“Real fucking tight,” Jax lifted his eyebrows at her. “I can’t unsee it now, you know? I feel like, everytime I see him at your house from now on, I’m gonna be picturing him in those little shorts, and I don’t know how to feel about it.”

Allie put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Welcome to my world. I have moments just like that, with almost everyone who works here, at least once a day. It used to be more when my office was closer to the film sets.”

Jax’s lips pulled apart in a grimace even as he threw an arm around her shoulders to steer her out into the hallway. He glanced inside her office from over her shoulder, shooting Piper a wink, and she just shook her head at him before waving goodbye to them.

“You ready for this, baby?” he murmured in her ear as they started down the hallway.

Allie grinned brightly up at him, excitement radiating off her. “I’m ready if you are.”

“Oh, I was born ready.”

They were still grinning stupidly at each other as Allie tossed him her keys, and he slid into the driver’s seat of her BMW. This had become a little bit of a routine for them, at least when their schedules allowed, although this particular time, they weren’t going to have time for any extra stops. Besides, he liked driving her car, and he liked picking her up at her office, and holding her hand over the center console, and being able to have a real conversation with her while they drove. Any other time, and he’d want her his bike, but for their lunch rendezvous - as Dan called them - he liked taking her car.

“The school district first, right?” he asked as he hit the start button to bring the engine to life.

Allie’s lips parted to respond just as her sound system kicked in and her mouth curled slyly. It took him a second to recover when he heard the words  _ bring a bucket and a mop for this wet ass pussy _ blare through her speakers, and then he laughed out loud.

“You went from a podcast about the Supreme Court to  _ this _ ?” 

“What?” Allie shrugged a little too innocently, bopping her neck to the beat. “I like this song.”

And she proved it by mouthing along to the line,  _ he bought a phone just for pictures of this wet ass pussy _ , and then his shoulders started to shake with laughter.

“I can see that,” he shook his head through his laughter. “So this is what you were listen’ to on your way into work this morning, huh?”

“It was,” Allie just shrugged easily, still bopping her head to the song. “I guess I was just in the mood for it - you know, after this morning.  _ And _ , maybe I thought it would be fun to mess with you a little.”

His lips curled into a sly smirk. “Oh, you’re messin’ with me, alright. Didn’t know you liked this song, although I can’t exactly say I’m surprised.”

“I think it’s been unfairly judged as vulgar. Although, I don’t really care for the line about macaroni in a pot. That’s taking it a little too far, even for me. I guess it  _ is  _ a dirty song, but why are men the only ones who can rap about enjoying sex without getting shit for it? And why  _ not _ have a song about celebrating the female body? Shouldn’t we be proud of our bodies and what they can do instead of being made to feel ashamed of them?”

“Hey,” Jax just laughed. “I’m all about female empowerment, especially if it’s you being empowered to spell your name when you’re ridin’ me.”

“Ah,” Allie bit back a laugh. “So you  _ do  _ know this song.”

“I might’ve heard it once or twice before. Just do me a favor and don’t start callin’ yourself a whore when we’re in your house, okay? I don’t think I’d like hearin’ you talk about yourself that way. And if anybody  _ else _ starts callin’ you a whore, well, then I guess you know who to call, don’t you?”

“Ghostbusters?”

He shook his head slyly at her, his lips curling into a smirk, and then he made the executive decision to turn off the song. She’d already messed with him plenty, and gave him more than enough to think about to get him through the rest of his day, but they still had some very important errands to run. Allie’s lips jutted out into a cute pout when he killed the song, and that was  _ almost  _ enough to make him turn it back on. Almost.

“Fine,” Allie just shrugged, clearly having gotten over it. “What are we doing tonight?”

Jax cocked an eyebrow at her. “Not tellin’ ya that.”

That got him another pout, and he figured it was worth it. She looked pretty damn cute right now, sitting there in the passenger seat with her cream knee-length skirt and matching button-up top. The top had just a hint of lace ribboning through it, and when he watched her get dressed this morning, he’d wondered if she’d purposefully chosen to wear an all-white outfit today for the errands they needed to run. And not, say, one of those black leather skirts he couldn’t wait to push up over her hips.

He’d also made the mistake of telling her this morning that he had some plans for them tonight, and then refused to tell her what those plans were. He’d gathered pretty quickly she wasn’t exactly crazy about surprises - but this wasn’t really a surprise. It was just something he’d always wanted to do with her, and tonight, he was finally going to get to do it. He just wasn’t telling her what that was just yet.

Allie was still pouting when they pulled into the parking lot of their first stop, but as soon as he turned off her car, a smile crept across her beautiful face, excitement bouncing through her. She dipped a hand inside her purse, pulling out one of the many envelopes Bobby had given him yesterday before he left the clubhouse for the night. They were all set - all they needed to do was start delivering them.

“You ready, Jax?”

“Let’s go, baby,” he smirked at her as he slid out of the driver’s seat.

She met him around the front of the car, and he twisted their hands together as they walked up the sidewalk toward Charming School District’s main office. Allie had suggested that, for now, they were better off just giving one lump sum to the school district itself instead of spreading it out to different schools, and like always, Allie was right.

As they walked through the office’s main entrance, his palms got a little sweaty. More than a little clammy. He’d been looking forward to this all week, and now that they were here, really doing it, part of him wondered if maybe he was better off just waiting in the car. His steps stalled for just a moment, but Allie didn’t let him falter. She glanced at him from over her shoulder, pulling him along with a bright smile on her face. 

“Come on, Jax,” she laughed, tugging him along until he caught up with her again.

With a deep breath, and his heart thundering away in his chest, he followed Allie inside the office. She walked right up to the front desk like it was the easiest thing in the world, and for her, it probably was. For him, though, those last few steps up to that front desk felt like they took years. He felt the weight of those years on his shoulders now as he rested his palms against the edge of the counter. Everything the club had been working toward, the years they’d spent on the fringes of society, all that time they’d wasted on guns and prison sentences, not to mention dodging prison sentences...it all felt like it came down to this moment, standing here at this front desk with this woman at his side.

If Allie felt the weight of it, she put on a pretty good poker face, smiling brightly at the secretary behind the desk.

“Hi,” Allie told her warmly, “I’m Attorney Allie Levy, and this is -”

“Jax Teller,” the secretary finished for her, apprehension and a touch of fear in her eyes as her gaze swung from the sophisticated, professional, and beautiful lawyer to the flannel and leather-covered biker next to her, almost as if she couldn’t quite figure out how the two had come to be standing next to each other.

Sometimes he couldn’t figure that out himself either.

Still, Jax flashed her a good-natured grin, doing his best to steel his emotions to something light and friendly. If he didn’t, his nerves would most definitely show.

“Right,” Allie nodded, that smile never leaving her face. “We have an appointment with Superintendent Palmer. Could you let her know we’re here?”

The secretary pressed a tight smile on her face, her eyes still flicking back to where Jax shifted uncomfortably on his heels. “Of course. Just a moment.”

She fired off a quick email, presumably to let the superintendent know they were here for their appointment, and just a few short moments later, a familiar, petite blonde stepped out from an office down the hallway and waved them down...and his stomach just about dropped right to the carpet at his feet.

“Hello, Allie! It’s good to see you again,” Superintendent Palmer greeted her with a warm wave, and when her eyes flicked to Jax, those familiar green eyes flashed with recognition. “And Jax Teller. Long time no see, huh?”

Yeah. Definitely. And seeing as how he’d made her first year teaching a living hell, he wasn’t entirely surprised she remembered him either. Of course, her name had been Ms. Rudolph then, and he’d enjoyed that name a little too much as a 14-year-old little asshole. When Allie told him they were meeting with the superintendent today as sort of a goodwill introduction - along with as many coordinators of the other organizations as they could - he had not been aware that Charming’s current superintendent was his former freshman English teacher. Had he been aware of that, he would’ve kept his ass in the car.

So, he just flashed her a grin and hoped for the best.

“What brings you here today?” Superintendent Palmer asked easily, gesturing for them to step inside her office and have a seat.

Allie eyed him with a small smile playing on her lips as they sank down into the chairs in front of Superintendent Palmer’s desk. Then, she swooped in and took the lead on this one, clearly sensing he was too nervous and a little too stunned to be much help to her right now.

“I know I mentioned in my email that Samcro was looking to make a donation to the school district, but we wanted to stop in and drop it off personally.”

“Well, I think that’s a wonderful gesture,” Superintendent Palmer responded warmly as she reached out to take the envelope from Allie’s outstretched hand.

“And, we wanted to be clear that the club has plans to make quarterly donations to the district, just in case there was any confusion that this was a one-time donation, which it’s not.”

Superintendent Palmer didn’t waste any time, running her finger underneath the lip of the envelope to open it, and slipped the check out to glance at it. “Redwood, LLC, huh? That’s a nice touch. And thank you, Mr. Teller, this is a very generous donation.”

Jax shifted in his chair, more than a little uncomfortable, and a little sweaty, underneath his former teacher’s sly stare. Allie didn’t miss a beat, taking up the brunt of this meeting like the professional she was.

“The club is really looking forward to supporting the school district - most of its members have gone to school here over the years, and have had children go to school here too. The club’s vice president, Opie Winston, has a step-daughter who’s a sophomore at the high school right now. They know how important education is, and really, this school district is the heart of our community, isn’t it? If our kids are doing well, everyone else is doing well too, and the club believes in that philosophy just as much as every other member of this community.”

He felt his lips curl up into a soft smile, now a little more relaxed than he’d been before. Damn, she was good.

“I couldn't agree with you more,” Superintendent Palmer grinned at her, before her eyes flicked back to him. “And Mr. Teller, I hear you’re now Samcro’s president. Congratulations on the promotion, although I was sorry to hear about the loss of your step-father. He was a good man.”

Jax’s eyes widened at that, and he shifted again in his chair, making Allie lift her eyebrows at him. “Thanks.”

His former teacher just smiled back at him. “I’m sure it was a bit of a catch-22, right? And probably pretty bittersweet, I can imagine. You know, regardless of how it happened, I’m glad to see you got what you wanted. I remember, very clearly, you telling me in your final essay your freshman year that, I think I’m quoting you verbatim here, you _ didn’t need this school or this bullshit class  _ because you were going to be Samcro’s president someday. That’s not something you read in a student’s essay every day.”

Now he found himself chewing on his bottom lip nervously. He was pretty sure he  _ had  _ written something exactly like that, because at the time, he’d been an asshole, and he’d been pissed off that she’d all but grabbed him by the back of the collar on the second to last day of school that year, dragged him back to her classroom, sat him down in a desk, and refused to let him leave until he wrote the essay he owed her. Of course, he’d ruffled up at the word  _ owe _ , because back then, he didn’t think he owed anybody anything. Now that he thought about it, he was also pretty sure the only reason he’d passed that class, just skating by with a solid 62 percent, was because his teacher had done that.

And now that he thought about it, some more of those hazy memories were coming back to him. When he’d handed her his scribbled, probably pretty poorly-written, bare bones essay about the value of English skills in the real world, she’d also made him sit there while she read it to make sure he’d met the criteria before he left her classroom. It was also very possible she knew she’d never get him back in that room to fix the essay if she didn’t. Of course, his essay was riddled with thinly-veiled insults about how English skills really  _ weren’t  _ useful in the real world, or at least,  _ his _ world. Although now, he could see the irony there - considering he’d been using English skills to pass her class at the time, and he’d been honing those skills, at least the speaking ones, over the years with some pretty damn good results.

After she read it, she’d looked up at him from his paper, and told him, “ _ You know, Mr. Teller, life is all about the hoops we need to jump through in order to get what we want. I understand school isn’t high on your priority list, and I can see why. But you’re never going to get that president patch, as you called it in your essay, without jumping through some hoops. School is one of those hoops, and so was this class, and this essay.” _

As his eyes lifted up to his former teacher, he found her watching him with sparkling eyes, as if she could read his thoughts and knew exactly where his mind had just gone.

“Well,” he offered, his voice sounding hoarse to his ears, “I guess we could say I figured out how to jump through some of those hoops, huh?”

“I’d say,” she grinned back with just a hint of pride in her eyes. “This is a good thing you’re doing here, Mr. Teller. I hope you know that.”

He nodded to her tightly, pressing a taut smile on his face. “I do know that. And I want you to know that, in spite of the fact that I was a shit student and even shittier to you, this is really just about giving back, you know? I’m proud that the club is in a position to do this, and I’m even prouder that I get to be the one to hand you the check. Well, I guess I didn’t actually hand it to you, but you know what I mean.”

Superintendent Palmer smiled and then wagged a finger at him. “You know, I always thought you’d go one of two ways. You’d either grow up to be a complete thug, or you’d find a way to actually be a decent human being. Looks like you found a lane somewhere in the middle, didn’t you?”

He laughed as some of the tension he’d felt before roll right off his shoulders and disappear. “Yeah, looks like it.”

“Good for you,” she nodded to him, and then shifted her gaze back to Allie. “Now, this one over here...this one I never had to worry about.”

Jax laughed along with the other two ladies in the room, feeling lighter, more relaxed, and happy with the knowledge that maybe not every person in this town thought he was just a thug riding around on a Harley. Considering he’d driven over here in his old lady’s BMW, he figured he was doing pretty well for himself. And then some.

As they stood up to leave, Superintendent Palmer reached out to shake Allie’s hand and then his hand with a little twinkle in her eye. “It was good to see you again, Mr. Teller. And I know you probably won’t be hand-delivering these checks very often, but I wouldn’t mind if you dropped the district’s check off in person from time to time. Don’t be a stranger, okay?”

“Sounds good, Ms. Rud - er, Mrs. Palmer.”

She pointed a finger at him as they made their way to the door. “That’s  _ Superintendent _ Palmer to you.”

Jax huffed out a laugh, shaking his head, and then shot her a mock-salute before resting a hand on Allie’s back to her usher out of the office. When he looked down at her, Allie was watching him with a smile playing on her lips.

“What?” he laughed.

“That went better than you thought it was going to, huh?”

He leaned into her, even as he tipped his chin to the secretary still sitting at the front desk, and murmured, “Darlin’, I think I just about shit myself when I saw her walk out of that office. I thought I was completely and thoroughly  _ fucked _ .”

Allie shushed him a little, glancing around to make sure no one had heard him. “Jax,” she whispered harshly, “you can’t swear like that in here. You wanna undo everything you just did?”

His lips pulled apart in a grimace, his eyes darting around to see if anyone really had noticed. “Oh, shit. You’re right.”

“Jax!” Allie laughed and swatted him playfully on the shoulder. 

He responded by draping an arm around her shoulder to lead her out of the office and back out to the parking lot, laughing and pressing a kiss into her hair while he did it. 

But, swearing aside, that had felt good. Better than he’d thought it would. The actual act of seeing that check in Superintendent Palmer’s hands had been gratifying in a way he hadn’t expected. The club could do some real good in the community - they could take the money they were finally earning legitimately and actually make their world, however small it was here in Charming, a better place.

And while they were doing that, he had a pretty good feeling the tide would turn and people would start seeing them a little differently too.

It was right on the tip of his tongue to say as much to his old lady when his prepay buzzed inside his cut with an incoming call. He dipped a hand inside his cut for his phone, keeping his other arm around Allie’s shoulders as he flipped it open.

“Yeah?”

“Hey, man,” Harrison replied from the other end. “Look, I’ll keep this short. I followed up on that lead I told you about last week, and well, it wasn’t the lead I was hoping for, but I’m ready to break it all down for you now and talk about next steps.”

“Alright,” Jax told him easily as he let his arm slip from Allie’s shoulders so she could make her way over to the passenger side door of her car. “When you plannin’ to swing by the clubhouse then?”

“I was hoping I could just do it tomorrow so I can get back to work for you that much faster.”

“No problem. Hold on a sec,” Jax just lifted a shoulder, tipping his chin up to Allie as he opened the driver’s side door to get her attention. “What time you comin’ to the clubhouse tomorrow?”

“I was thinking around 2:00?” Allie responded with a shrug. “I can come by whenever though if something’s going on.”

“Nah,” he told her. “Two’s fine - how long do you need?”

“Maybe an hour?”

He nodded to her before flashing her a grin as he put his prepay back up to his ear. “Hey, Harrison, does 3:00 tomorrow work for you?”

“Yeah, man, that’s fine. I’ll see you tomorrow at three then.”

“Sounds good.”

He snapped his prepay shut and tossed it back inside his cut before hitting the button to start the engine.

“Everything okay, Jax?” Allie called out to him.

“Yeah,” he shrugged, putting the car into reverse and backing the car out of their parking stall. “That was our PI. He’s ready to meet and go over some things with us tomorrow. I figured we might as well just get everything out of the way all at once - we’re gonna have to take what you’ve got for us to the table anyway. We might as well cover what Harrison’s got then too.”

“That’s gonna be a busy day for you,” she smiled at him from the passenger seat.

Jax reached out to twist their hands together and brought her knuckles up to his lips. “No big deal, baby. Just as long as I get to end it with you.”

Allie huffed out a laugh, shaking her head at him playfully. “So smooth.”

“Hey, that’s been workin’ pretty well for me so far,” he smirked at her, and then tipped his chin to her. “Where we headed next, Attorney Levy?”

“The Boys and Girls Club,” she told him a bright smile. “Then the homeless shelter, and the food pantry after that.”

He nodded, ready to ride out this feeling for as long as he could. 

* * *

Allie glanced over her shoulder one last time, grimaced a little, and decided to call it. Jax would be here in a few minutes anyway, and he didn’t really need to come in the house just yet - at least not while all that was going on behind her. Without bothering to interrupt Dan and Adrian on the couch, she pushed through the front door, closed it behind her, and started walking to her driveway.

That tell-tale rumble of a motorcycle engine echoed down the street, right on time, and Allie found herself smiling before Jax even rolled up her driveway. He stopped right alongside her, unsnapping his helmet and handing it off to her, just as his eyes dropped to her outfit.

“Oh no, darlin’,” he shook his head slyly. “You gotta run back upstairs and put somethin’ with a skirt on for me.”

She glanced down at her jeans and shrugged. “Sorry, Jax. You know how I feel about wearing a skirt on your bike. And I’m absolutely _not_ going back inside the house right now because Dan and Adrian were making out on the couch right when I left. So there’s that too.”

He tilted his head to the side. “Come on. Please? All I’m askin’ for here is a skirt. You’ve got a closet full of ‘em. Shoot Dan a text to let him know you’re comin’ back inside and make a run for it.”

Allie pushed out a heavy sigh, weighing her options as she regarded the handsome blonde biker who was just too charming for his own good. Or  _ her  _ own good too. It was starting to get colder out at night, and now that she’d been on the back of Jax’s bike a handful of times in the last few weeks and knew what to expect, she’d thought jeans were just more practical tonight. Apparently, Jax didn’t really care about practicality.

“Are we going somewhere far? Because if I have to change, I’m gonna freeze my ass off if I’m gonna be on the back of your bike for awhile.”

“It’s not far. I promise,” he laughed, clearly aware she’d caved without much of a fight. Maybe she’d just gotten better at reading when he might bend, and when he probably wouldn’t. The determination in his blue eyes, coupled with his disappointment at the sight of her jeans, had been more than enough to sway her.

“Alright, fine. There’d better be a good reason for this though.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you,” he smirked, biting down on his bottom lip, and gesturing with his head toward the house. “Get goin’, baby. You got five minutes and then we gotta hit the road so we’re not late.”

With another sigh, she shot off a quick warning text to Dan, then ran back to the house as fast as her chunky heels would let her as Jax leaned back against his bike to wait for her. She pushed through the front door again, shielding her eyes as she ran up the stairs and laughing at Dan’s angry protest at the interruption. Knowing she only had literal minutes to decide, she just grabbed the first dress she could find that had a loose enough skirt to accommodate sitting on Jax’s bike, and quickly changed into it, throwing her leather jacket back on over the top of it. Then she ran back down the stairs, almost tripping in her hurry, so that she caused as little disruption to what was happening on the couch again as possible, and flinging the front door open again to head back to the driveway.

As she drew closer, Jax’s eyebrows lifted appreciatively and he let out a low whistle as he passed her his helmet.

“That’s more like it, darlin’,” he murmured through a smirk, his eyes dropping to the exposed skin on her thighs.

“Shut up,” she sassed back, even as Jax just laughed and as she took his hand to let him help her ease down onto the back of his back. Her calf narrowly missed the piping-hot muffler - she’d already accidentally burned herself on that once before and had no plans to make that mistake again. Which, of course, was another reason why she’d started to prefer wearing jeans on his bike.

But, still, she wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning in against his back as he revved the engine and rolled them back down the driveway and onto the street. At this point, she didn’t really care that she had no idea where they were going. She’d given up trying to get it out of him, and decided to just enjoy whatever he had planned, even if she  _ did  _ loathe surprises. This was her life now, she reasoned. Might as well enjoy the ride.

And when he pulled into the movie theater’s parking lot, she found herself shaking her head with a laugh.

“What?” Jax called from over his shoulder as he swung his leg over the side of his bike and held out a hand to help her off the bike.

“Really, Jax?”

He threw his hands up in the air dramatically. “I wanna take you to a movie, okay? Why is that so bad?”

“It’s not,” Allie laughed, shivering a little when he draped an arm around her shoulders as he dug into the back of his bike with his other hand. “I just wasn’t expecting this, I guess.”

“I haven’t seen an actual movie in an actual theater in forever, and I wanted to do that with you. So sue me.”

With that, he pulled a thin blanket out of the back of his bike and handed it to her, which she took from him with narrowed eyes.

“Why did you want me to change into a skirt, Jax?”

He just winked at her as he corralled her toward the main entrance, sweeping one of the doors open for her to pass through first. But when they stepped inside the lobby, Jax’s steps stalled, his eyes fixed on the kiosks against the wall, with not a theater employee in sight.

“What the hell is this?” he frowned, gesturing with his head toward those kiosks.

“That’s where we get our tickets.”

“Oh,” he shrugged. “A’ight.”

And when they stepped up to one of those kiosks, his eyes scanned the screen for whatever movie he was looking for, and then his eyes just about popped out of his head, his mouth dropping open in shock.

“Sold  _ out _ ? What the fuck?”

Allie couldn’t hide her laughter, covering her mouth, and glancing over her shoulder at the young family behind them.

“I can’t fucking believe this,” Jax groaned, scrubbing his face with a ringed hand.

“Hey,” she elbowed him, “there are little kids behind us.”

Jax’s head whipped around to see two little boys, who couldn’t have been older than three or four, smile at him shyly. Their parents, though, did not look amused. Jax winced at them, and then shot them a sheepish wave from over his shoulder.

“Sorry ‘bout that. I’ll behave,” he told the mom with a grin, and then he shifted his focus back to Allie, leaning in to murmur, “How could it be sold out already? We’re 15 minutes early.”

She leaned closer to see which movie he was gesturing to on the screen and rolled her eyes. “The new  _ Fast & the Furious _ movie? Really?”

He just shrugged. 

“Well, people buy their tickets online ahead of time now, Jax. It’s probably been sold out already for a little while. What decade are you living in anyway?”

Jax narrowed his eyes at her playfully and shook his finger at her. “I don’t appreciate your tone, darlin’. And how was I supposed to know people did this sh -  _ crap _ now, anyway? I told you I haven’t been to a movie in forever, and the last time I went, I’m pretty sure Juice grabbed the tickets for us. I checked the movie times on my phone earlier today, and I thought that was all I had to do because that was all I  _ used  _ to have to do.”

“Okay, okay,” she held her hands up in surrender, amusement still playing on her lips. “So what do you want to do now?”

“Heck if I know,” Jax shrugged a little hopelessly, glancing over his shoulder again at the young family behind them. “Here I had all these plans...and the internet completely screwed me.”

“Aw,” she tilted her head to the side with a smile. “That’s actually kinda sweet. Why don’t we just get tickets for the next show?” She leaned forward to look at the screen and then her lips pulled apart in a grimace before glancing up at him.

“What?” his eyes widened. “Don’t tell me the next one one is sold out too.”

She winced again. “It is.”

“Fuck! Shit,” he glanced behind him apologetically. “Sorry.”

“I hate to say it, Jax, but the next one after that is at 10:30, and I’m not sure if I can make it through a whole movie like that without passing out. It’s a weeknight, and we  _ are  _ getting old, you know.”

“Maybe  _ you _ are,” he smirked and then tipped his chin at the screen. “Just pick somethin’, baby. I don’t care anymore. I just wanna sit in a dark room with you.”

“Uh huh,” she nodded smugly. “That’s what I thought,” then she quickly scanned their options, picking the first one she could find that seemed like something they both might like, and then punched in her selection to move on the next screen.

“Huh,” Jax huffed, leaning in to see the screen better. “So we can  _ pick _ our seats ahead of time too? That’s kinda cool, actually.”

“Yeah,” she laughed. “Wait ‘til you see the seats. They recline and everything now.”

His eyebrows lifted, clearly impressed with these new improvements across American cinemas everywhere, and he batted her hand away when she tried to put her card into the kiosk to pay. He stealthily swiped his own card before she had a chance to make another attempt at paying, and grabbed their tickets when the machine spit them out with a wide grin.

There was a part of her that was still kind of surprised he even  _ had  _ a debit card, although he’d cockily told her last week he preferred to pay with cash when he could because there was  _ less of a paper trail _ that way. And then there was the issue that he’d yet to allow her to pick up the tab for anything.

And as they stepped up to the concession booth, she decided to press the issue. It was about time, and it wasn’t like she couldn’t afford it.

“You’re gonna let me pay for this, right?”

Jax just lifted a shoulder as he draped an arm around her shoulders. “Wasn’t plannin’ on it.”

“You have to let me pay for something sometime.”

“I disagree.”

Allie huffed a little, grabbing a bag of gummy bears from the stand next to them. “So, you think that because you’re the  _ man  _ in the relationship that means you always need to pay?”

“Aw, shit,” he muttered under his breath. “Here we go.”

“I understand you wanting to pay in the beginning as more of, you know, a gesture than anything, but you don’t have to do that anymore, Jax. You can still pay for things, but I’d like to pay every once and a while too. I promise I won’t tell anyone if that’ll put a ding on your man card or something.”

He narrowed his eyes at her as they moved closer in line to the register. “Maybe I like treatin’ you. Besides, it’s not like I can’t afford it.”

“Oh, I know,” she laughed slyly. He wasn’t going to like this, but she was going to drop it on him anyway. “I prepped the financial disclosure forms for your divorce, remember? I know exactly how much money you have.”

Now, he cocked a wary eyebrow at her with just a touch of agitation flashing across his face. This was the first time either of them had mentioned it, especially given the fact that he was actually  _ still  _ married. It was over - they both knew that. Allie knew it better than anyone since she’d filed all the paperwork at the courthouse for him and Wendy. But they still hadn’t mentioned it at any point over these last few weeks. Maybe they’d just been too happily cocooned in the newness of it all to focus on that particular reality - the reality that he really  _ wasn’t _ free to be with her just yet, at least not legally, even if all that was left of his divorce was a final court date.

It was only for another three months or so, but still. That realization stung.

“It’s okay, Jax,” she reassured him, leaning into his side so she could press a quick kiss into his cheek. “It’s just a piece of paper. It doesn’t really mean anything anyway.”

His eyebrows lifted into his forehead, and then dipped back down into a frown just as quickly. He didn’t respond as they stepped up to the counter, and he tipped his chin to her, signaling that she should just order something for them. 

Allie set her gummy bears down on the counter, quickly spouting off an order for popcorn and soda, and then when it came time to pay, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. He just lifted a shoulder, narrowing his eyes at her a little when she dipped a hand inside her purse for her wallet. But he still let her pay, and without a word of protest too.

And now, she got the feeling she’d done something wrong during the time they’d spent waiting in line at the concession stand. So much, in fact, that he barely reacted when she slipped her hand inside his as they made their way over to the theater for their movie. They walked up the aisle in silence, moving right up to the top row to find their seats. She had a pretty good idea why he’d wanted to sit in the very top row, and off to the side no less, but now she wondered if she’d ruined all his plans at pretty much every turn tonight.

Once they’d settled into their seats, reclined them back, and threw the blanket over their legs, Allie figured she might as well make an attempt to lighten the mood between them.

“Hey, you wanna hear a funny story?”

Jax turned to her with a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. “What’s that, baby?”

She felt a little bit of the tension between them melt away at those three words, and she grinned at him as he tossed some popcorn into his mouth, readying himself to listen to her story. She had a feeling he’d see the humor in it.

“So, a couple of weeks ago, Piper and I were talking about that guy she’s dating now.”

“Our buddy, Dylan?”

“That’s the one,” she laughed. “She was talking about how she was worried Lyla wasn’t going to let her hang out with him by herself, and that all they’d done together so far was go to movies with a group of their friends, but the problem, at least then, was that our buddy, Dylan, wanted to go to movie with just  _ her _ , you know? Like alone, in a dark room, where hands could wander and things could happen, and she was a little unsure if she wanted to do that with  _ him _ .”

“Alright,” he nodded, tilting his head to the side to hear her better, that smile still on his lips. “So what sage advice did you give her?”

“I suggested they go bowling instead.”

Jax barked out a laugh, shaking his head at her as he grabbed for some more popcorn.

“It was the first thing I could think of that was some place where they could actually see and talk to each other for an actual date, okay? I was  _ trying _ to help.”

“Alright, alright,” he laughed. “I see what you were tryin’ to do. And I think I see where you’re goin’ with this too.”

“Right,” she smiled. “So after that _going to a movie_ and _bowling_ sort of became code for something else whenever we talked about boys after that. I told her to bowl with Dylan and to keep bowling until she was sure she wanted to go to a movie with him, you know what I mean?”

He smirked at her, tipping his chin a little. “And here we are, going to a movie, huh?”

“That’s right,” Allie laughed. “Piper would never let me hear the end of it if she found out we actually went to a literal movie at a movie theater.”

“Well, you probably shouldn’t tell her what we’re gonna be doin’ underneath this blanket during the movie either.”

“I wouldn’t dare,” she smiled, grateful that the tension between them seemed to have abated for now. “I had a feeling that was what you were after when you made me go back inside to change earlier.”

He responded by slipping a hand underneath the blanket, easily finding her bare thigh, and skimming his fingertips underneath her dress.

“Yep,” she exhaled breathlessly. “That’s what I thought.”

His fingertips stayed right where they were, drawing gentle circles on the inside of her thigh, as he leaned into murmur in her ear, “Hey, baby?”

“Yeah, Jax?”

“I wish I’d never needed you to file all that paperwork in the first place.”

“I know,” she sighed.

“You really think it’s just a piece of paper though?”

Allie pushed out a heavy sigh. She’d been hoping they could just forget she ever made that stupid comment in the first place, but he’d obviously been chewing on it since she’d said it. Might as well be honest with him, even though she was pretty sure he wasn’t going to be very happy to hear it.

“Isn’t it?” she shrugged. “Look how well that turned out for you and Wendy. Or my dad both times he went down that road. Or Ope and Donna for that matter. Maybe it’s just me being a cynical lawyer, but I guess, the way I see it, it’s just two signatures on a contract that both parties can get out of. It doesn’t actually  _ create _ the commitment, you know?”

Jax ran his free hand over his mouth, but he kept his other hand underneath their blanket, and his fingertips on her bare skin. “So what  _ does _ create the commitment then?”

“Love for starters,” she shrugged. “Two people choosing to build a life together, a family together...that sort of thing.”

He mulled over that for a few moments, nodding in thought as his lips curled up into a light smile. “A  _ family _ , huh?”

“That was your takeaway from what I just said?”

“Not the only takeaway, but part of it, yeah.”

“Alright,” she smiled, satisfied that he still hadn’t stopped drawing those gentle circles on her skin. “So I take it we have a differing opinion on this?”

His eyebrows quirked up into his forehead as his jaw worked through some amusement and just a touch of agitation. “We do. I don’t think it’s just a piece of paper, or say, a  _ label _ . It means something to me.”

Well, he was being just a tiny bit hypocritical here, and she couldn’t stop herself from calling him out on it.

“Sure, but you told me why you married Wendy, so it can’t mean  _ that  _ much to you.”

Now, his eyes narrowed a touch in her direction. “I made a mistake with her. Giving my name to someone, my ring, my vows...I think I figured out pretty quickly that it  _ does  _ mean something to me because I didn’t do it with the right person the first time.”

She decided to set the  _ giving my name to someone  _ part aside for right now. That was a discussion, and probably an argument, for another time and another place. 

“So what does it mean to you then?”

Jax appraised her carefully as the lights in the theater started to dim. “Same thing as making someone my old lady. The only difference is that being my old lady is something the club understands. Being my wife is something the rest of the world understands. You get to stand up in front of all your family and friends and say this is the woman I’m spending the rest of my life with and I’m gonna love her ‘til the day I die. It doesn’t get more concrete than that. And just so we’re clear, baby, I didn’t love Wendy, but I fucking love  _ you _ .”

“Hmm,” she mused, her lips curling a little at that last part, his words warming her in a way she didn’t expect. “I understand your argument, and I suppose I can see the logic of it. And, I suppose, based on that logic, things seem to be working out pretty well for Ope the second time around.”

Even in the darkness, the glare from the screen in front of them illuminated his smile. “I’d say.”

“All that being said,” she whispered. “I’m not so sure any of that is necessary, as long as the two people involved know where they both stand. To be completely honest with you, I don’t think there’s any bigger commitment a person can make to another person than choosing to build a life and a family with them, and then honoring that choice for the rest of their life. That’s all I’m saying.”

He nodded slowly, his eyes fixed on the popcorn in her lap. Then he leaned in so he could murmur in her ear, “You wanna build a life and a family, we can do that. We  _ should  _ do that. And I’m not so sure there’s a certain order anyone has to do anything in either. But you being my wife, Allie - that’s somethin’ I want when we’re both ready for it. That’s all I’m sayin’.”

Now, she found herself narrowing her eyes right back at him. “I’m sorry I even remotely brought this up.”

“I’m not,” Jax smirked back. “I’d rather know where your head’s at now, instead of later, so I know what I’m up against. That gives me lots of time, and fair warning too.”

She eyed him warily, even as his fingertips drifted a little farther up her thigh, but seeing as how she’d been the one stupid enough to bring it up, especially right now, she decided to wave the white flag first, if only because another preview was starting before their movie. 

“I shouldn’t have mentioned Wendy. I didn’t really mean to...it just sorta came out the wrong way, seeing as how I  _ did  _ prep your financial disclosure statements and I  _ do  _ know exactly how much money you have. You should probably feel pretty lucky that I’m an independent woman who doesn’t need to depend on her partner’s income...you know, otherwise you might have to worry I’m just in this for your money.”

Jax huffed out a laugh before leaning in to brush his lips against her neck. “I’d say I’m pretty lucky for a lotta reasons, baby.”

“I didn’t mean to burst our bubble though, Jax.”

“I know,” he whispered against her neck. “It’s just a few more months. Let’s try not to talk about it until then, okay? Let’s just forget about it.”

“If it makes you feel any better about all this,” she offered lightly. “I don’t like the idea of you belonging to anyone else...or the idea that if it  _ was _ something we both wanted right now, we legally  _ couldn’t... _ even if it is just on paper, even if it is just a contract I’m in the process of getting you out of, because I love you.”

His mouth curved into a slow, sexy smirk as he leaned closer to press his lips into hers and his fingertips skimmed the edge of her panties.

“You don’t actually care about watchin’ this movie, do you?”

“Not really,” she laughed.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to take you to a movie, sit right up in the top row like this, and sit through the whole thing with my hand up your skirt.”

“Oh really?” Allie laughed lightly again, scooting down in her reclining seat a little as the opening credits started. “That sounds like fun, as long as that includes some making out too.”

“Oh yeah, that’s definitely on the agenda. I just figured we should wait a little bit. What movie are we even in by the way?”

“I don’t think I care anymore.”

He just chuckled and pulled the blanket up to give him better access to her skirt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - Happy (early) New Year! I'm so grateful that this story has found readers over these last few months, and that it's helped distract you just as much as it's helped distract me from the dumpster fire that was 2020 ;)
> 
> Going into 2021, I'm still planning to keep my updating schedule...and I've got a new story in the works that I will start posting after I wrap up Witness Protection at the end of January (the new one will take WP's spot in my Sunday posting schedule). So that's coming up! For Fly By Night, I've got two more chapters to write, and I'm gearing myself up to write those chapters and say goodbye to Jax and Allie for now, and I think that's also why I'm stalling, you know? But that will bring the chapter count to 36 chapters, so there's plenty left to go and plenty to look forward to!
> 
> I wanted Jax and Allie to have a few moments of quiet and general peace and happiness because the next few chapters are going to be hard ones for them (and us too). It was also important to really solidify them as a couple and as partners, and that's only going to intensify with what's coming up. There have been lots of questions and lots of predictions - some of you have been spot-on, and others not so much - but I promise, all your questions will be answered in the next few chapters, and we'll start getting some of those answers in the next chapter.
> 
> On that note, thoughts on this chapter? Predictions for what's to come? I can't wait to hear your thoughts!


	28. Chapter Twenty-Eight

Allie glanced down at the copies in her hands and nodded to herself. It was all here. Everything was ready to go. Now, all that was left to do was get in her car and drive over to the clubhouse. She was a goddamn professional and she had an appointment with her clients at 2:00.

“I made a few extra copies,” Piper shrugged at her. “I feel like Opie would lose his head if it wasn’t attached to his body, so leaving some extras at the clubhouse when you’re done seemed like a good idea.”

Allie looked up from the copies in her slightly trembling hands and shot her rockstar assistant a grin. “Piper, have I told you lately how utterly lost I would be without you?”

“No,” she just shrugged again. “But go ahead and remember that when it’s time to give me a raise.”

“How about we start with you and Dylan out for a nice dinner, or bowling, on me? How’s that sound?”

Piper glanced up at her from the desk, her blue eyes impassive and a little sad, and then she tore her gaze back down to the desk to stare at a stack of paperwork.

“Piper.”

She quirked her eyebrows back at Allie nonchalantly. “What?”

“Is everything okay?”

Piper just shrugged again, which Allie could only take to mean that everything really  _ wasn’t _ okay. And when Piper’s phone started buzzing a foot away from her on the desk, Piper just glanced at the screen, lifted her eyes to the ceiling and went back to focusing on the stack of papers she was sorting.

“Piper.”

When Piper’s phone just started buzzing again, Allie took the hint. She grabbed all the copies of her presentation and her purse, and made a beeline for the door.

“You know what?” Allie called over her shoulder. “Why don’t you take that, Pipes. I was gonna get a coffee on my way into the clubhouse anyway and then I can go over all this one last time before the meeting.”

“Allie, it’s really -”

“No, no,” Allie grinned at her as she pulled her office’s door open. “I insist.  _ Something’s _ going on here, and when I get back, we’re gonna talk about it, but it sounds like you need to handle it a little bit first.”

Piper blew out a heavy sigh, and then swooped her phone off Allie’s desk to answer it, shooting Allie a frustrated glance as she put the phone up to her ear. On that note, now it seemed like the best option was just to get the hell out of this office and give time to Piper to deal with whatever issue she was obviously having.

They would absolutely be discussing this, in great, great detail, when she got back to the office after her meeting at the clubhouse. Something was up, and something was wrong, but it was clear Piper also needed some space right now too. And lucky for her, Allie already had an appointment that would take her out of the office a little while too.

And since she really had plenty of time before her 2:00 appointment, she decided to make a pitstop at the little bakery about 10 minutes away from the clubhouse. Allie was really after the small coffee bar there, not necessarily the baked goods, but she had a feeling Jax wouldn’t turn something down if she decided to grab a cookie or two for him with her coffee.

She’d already had plenty of coffee for the day, but since she had the time to kill, she also wanted to calm her nerves a little too. 

For her first time back in the clubhouse in well over a week, Allie wanted to be on the top of her game. Ready for any question. Any hint of animosity or indifference. Or anything at all. Taking this little breather right now would give her a moment to make sure her head was on straight and to take one last look at everything she’d put together for them.

She’d purposefully kept all this work away from Jax whenever they were together, and hadn’t even so much as mentioned it casually in conversation with him. If she got any kind of reactions or opinions about it ahead of time...that felt a little like cheating on a test or something. Besides, if she showed everything she had to Jax ahead of time for the sole purpose of gauging whether or not she was on the right track before showing it to the rest of the club, that seemed like they’d be doing the  _ exact _ kind of thing the club didn’t really want them to do in the first place.

Jax hadn’t done much more than ask her how it was going, so he seemed to understand that too.

Allie smiled warmly at the girl behind the counter as she ordered a macchiato, and then tapped her finger on her chin as she perused the baked good options.

“What do you recommend?” she asked.

“Well,” the girl just shrugged. “We’ve got some apple pie fritters that just came out of the oven or some pumpkin scones if you like pumpkin.”

“Hmm, well, it’s for my boyfriend,” Allie mused, smiling a little to herself at the word  _ boyfriend _ , “but I’m not sure which one he would like.”

“Why not both?”

Allie’s lips spread in a slow smile. “I think that’s a great idea. I’ll take both, please.”

After tucking the treats carefully away in her purse, Allie took her coffee and the small spread of work she’d brought in with her, and grabbed one of the tiny tables by the window. By now, she really should have all this memorized, and she sort of did, but her nerves were starting to get the best of her now that the clock was running down on the start of this meeting.

Jax had told her things were calming down, that Piney was really the only club member who was still voicing any kind of major concerns over her continuing to act as the club’s lawyer, and that she had nothing to worry about today. Piney was probably hard-wired to dislike and mistrust her, she figured. She was a woman in a position of power and influence, and now that position was also within the club. That had to make an old guy like Piney  _ at least _ a little itchy, if not almost breaking out into full-blown hives. Then there was the issue of Piney’s very messy history with her dad. Not to mention the fact that she’d also called Piney out on the carpet when they’d gotten into that stupid fight in the parking lot right after Lyla’s attack at the studio.

If Piney was the only main dissenter at the table, then she could live with that.

Just as her eyes flicked back to the papers in front of her, light buzzing went off in her purse and she grabbed her phone, smiling at the name she saw on her screen.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Hey, baby,” the smooth, deep voice told her on the other end. “You on your way yet?”

“Piper kicked me out of my office a little bit ago. I think she’s having boy problems, but anyway, I stopped by that little bakery on 5th street for some coffee on my way in since I had a little time to kill.”

“She’s callin’ the shots now, huh?” Jax laughed.

“Oh yeah, she basically told me to give her a raise today, too, which she kinda deserves and is something I probably  _ should  _ do anyway.”

“Sounds like a lawyer in the making.”

“Definitely. So, long story short, I was going to give myself another five minutes or so to look everything over again, and then I was gonna pack up and head over to the clubhouse.”

“A’ight,” she could practically hear his smile through the phone. “Our PI called and said he might be runnin’ a little late, so I was gonna tell you to take your time, but it sounds like you had other plans, huh?”

“Pretty much. I can leave now if you want.”

“Nah, take your time,” he told her. “I’ll be waitin’ for ya.”

It was a good thing there weren’t that many people in this bakery right now because she couldn’t stop the stupid grin that spread across her face.

“Alright. Like I said, five minutes and then I’ll be on my way.”

“Sounds good, Allie. Love you.”

“Love you too,” she smiled, then swiped across her screen to end the call and tossed her phone back into her purse.

As she straightened back up to the table, some movement by the window caught her attention, and she turned her head to see a black Trans Am pull into the parking stall next to her car. She absentmindedly shuffled the papers sitting in front of her, trying to decide if she should just pack everything up now, and glanced back at that Trans Am when the driver opened the door and stepped out onto the pavement.

Her eyes flicked back to her table, and then before she could stop herself, her gaze drifted back to the parking lot, where the driver of that Trans Am stepped closer into view as he headed for the bakery’s front entrance.

Allie froze. Her heart skidded into her stomach. Her mouth felt like she’d just been chewing on sandpaper. She wasn’t so sure the rest of her limbs would work right now if she wanted them to. She couldn’t move. What she really wanted to do was run, but her body was frozen to this seat, at this table, in this little bakery in Charming.

She hadn’t seen Tyler Chadwick in years. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually seen him in person because that time of her life was mostly blocked out and shoved up high in the tallest shelf in her mind. But she would never forget the last contact she’d had with him for as long as she lived.

He looked almost exactly the same as she remembered though. Same dark hair and dark eyes. Same chiseled jaw and athletic build. If anything, he looked more lithe, more predatory than when she’d first met him 13 years ago, but maybe the difference between then and now was that she knew better than to trust the easy smile and the smooth words.

And now, as she sat helplessly in a chair in a bakery, he walked right through the front door and breezed through the entrance without a care in the world. He was even  _ whistling  _ too.

The world was truly a fucked up place.

The fact that someone like him could drive around in a car like that, walk around like that, dress like that, after everything he’d done…there really was no such thing as justice in this world. He obviously wasn’t suffering. He obviously had a life. Maybe even a family or a girlfriend. Nothing  _ she’d _ done had really mattered in the grand scheme of things.

And there was nothing about this that was fair.

Just when she’d finally found more happiness than she could’ve ever dreamed of, Tyler Chadwick came waltzing into this bakery with that same air of superiority, reeking of entitlement and bad intentions.

And the longer she sat there, the more she realized that if she didn’t leave right now, he just might turn around and see her.

With that thought, she scrambled to shove the papers back inside her purse, grabbed her coffee, and got the hell out of there, her heart pounding away wildly in her chest as she hurried for the same door he’d just breezed through.

She only looked over her shoulder once, just to reassure herself that he wasn’t following her out into the parking lot, and made a beeline for her car. When she hit the start button in her car, her eyes drifted over to the black Trans Am parked right next to her, feeling her chest rise and fall more rapidly, feeling her nostrils flare with rage, feeling like everything inside her was on fire.

That was a really nice car. He didn’t  _ deserve  _ a nice car. He didn’t  _ deserve  _ a nice life. He didn’t deserve _ anything _ .

Her shaking hands twisted around the steering wheel as she backed out of her parking spot and sped through the lot, and practically peeled out onto the street to head toward the clubhouse. She almost,  _ almost  _ pulled over right there and dissolved into a fit of hysterics. Almost.

But Tyler Chadwick also didn’t deserve another drop of her tears.

She wasn’t going to allow him to ruin this meeting at the clubhouse for her either, even if it was from a distance, and even if he had no way of knowing he was doing it. She’d given him his last victory over her years ago, and she’d gotten the last word. There was no way Allie was going to ruin that now.

There was nothing more he could say or do that held any power over her, unless she gave him that power. That control. But she held all the power, and all the control.

And in that moment, she knew she just couldn’t keep this from Jax anymore. He needed to know. He  _ deserved  _ to know. And now, after what had just happened, she needed to talk to someone about it, and she wanted that someone to be him. He would listen, and he would understand. She knew that.

When Allie pulled into T-M’s parking lot, he was pretty easy to spot. Draped over the end of a picnic table, his long legs kicked out in front of him, his lips wrapped around a cigarette, some smoke billowing out from his nostrils, he was waiting for her just like he said he would. And in  _ this  _ moment, she wasn’t sure she could possibly love him more.

Jax pushed off the picnic table when he saw her pull in, taking one last pull from his cigarette and tossing it to the pavement as he sauntered over to her. With that cocky smirk slipping up the side of his handsome face, it was a wonder she’d been able to resist him as long as she had. He closed the distance between them easily, reaching out to slide a hand around her hip to draw her against him.

His lips brushed over her mouth, turning to her cheek, and then the side of her neck, before pulling his face back to smirk down at her.

“Hey, baby. Good to see you.”

“Hi, Jax,” she smiled back and handed him his little bag of treats. “I got these for you from the bakery. I told the girl behind the counter I wasn’t sure which one my boyfriend would like, so she suggested I get them both.”

“Well,” Jax laughed as he took the bag from her and peeked inside. “I think that was a great idea. I’ll happily give ‘em both a test run and let you know which one I like better.”

“That was the idea.”

His eyes flicked back to her, and his eyebrows quirked into a slight frown. Jax dipped down to get a better look at her, that hand on her hip tightening around her body. “Everything alright, Allie?”

Of course he’d been able to tell. He could read her better than anyone else, and sometimes, she wondered if he actually could read her thoughts too.

“Yeah,” she tried. “It’s just been a weird day.”

That just made the frown already creasing his forehead deepen, and he eyed her carefully, like he was bracing himself to take off running after her if she bolted right now. He waited, shifting from side to side, and now she weighed her options. There was no way they could really talk about this right now, or even after her meeting with the club because they had another meeting set up right after that.

But judging by the expression on his face, she wasn’t getting inside that clubhouse until she gave him some kind of explanation. She’d also learned a long time ago that he was just as stubborn as her - and he wasn’t going to settle for half-truths and thinly veiled insinuations.

“I think we should talk tonight, Jax,” she told him quietly, trying not to wince when his eyebrows knitted together in a deep frown. “I need to talk to you about something...I’m  _ ready  _ to talk to you about something, and I think it’s time for you to know.”

His face twisted, and his blue navy eyes filled with everything all at once - understanding, concern, love, and a little bit of fear too. She supposed all that was fair, given the circumstances. Jax nodded slowly, stepping in closer so he could run a thumb over her cheek.

“Baby,” he murmured. “Something happened in between when I called you before and you rollin’ in here. You sounded completely fine on the phone, and now I can see somethin’s wrong. Tell me what’s wrong.”

Allie blew out a deep sigh, her eyes flitted down to the pavement to give herself a moment because she knew when she brought her eyes back up to his, there’d be no going back. His eyes were like a truth serum anyway. There was no resisting or fighting it anymore, even if she wanted to.

“I ran into someone I knew in college at the bakery right after I got off the phone with you,” she explained as best she could. She’d give him the details later, but for now, they just needed to get inside the clubhouse and get on with the rest of their day. “Well, I guess I didn’t run into him exactly. I just saw him. I left before he knew I was there.”

Allie didn’t miss the way Jax’s eyes narrowed at the word  _ him _ , and the way his entire body went still at the word  _ he _ . His chest was rising and falling more rapidly now against his leather cut, and then he rubbed a hand over his mouth. His head dipped up and down in an absentminded nod, but his eyes had shifted into cool shards of ice.

“And was he still there when you left?” his voice was scarily calm, but his eyes told a different story.

“Jax -”

“Allie,” he bit out. “Was he still there when you left?”

“Yes, but -”

He was already backing away from her, handing her back the paper bag of treats she’d just given him, and shifting on his heel to turn toward the long line of bikes parked out in front of the clubhouse, but she made a mad dash for the sleeve of his flannel, tugging it to pull him back to her. 

“You don’t even know who you’re looking for if you go over there.”

“I’m sure I could figure it out pretty quick.”

“Jax, please don’t...”

By now, he’d shrugged out of her grip and was speed-walking toward his bike, his shoulders stiff and wrought with tension rolling off him in waves. So, she just tugged on his sleeve again, forcing his movements to slow, and silently begging him to turn around and look at her.

“Whatever you’re gonna do, I don’t want you to do it,” she told him softly. His steps stalled, his shoulders sagged, but he still didn’t turn his head. So, she stepped around him until they were face to face again, and his steely eyes softened. “On the off-chance he’s still there, you’re probably gonna get yourself arrested, and that’s not what I want. And I don’t think you really want me to see you get hauled away in handcuffs either.”

Jax swallowed hard, and he took a small step back, digging into the inside pocket of his cut for his cigarettes.

“Besides, we just dropped off 10 checks all around town yesterday,” she laughed mirthlessly, shaking her head a little at the irony of it all. “You would undo all of that goodwill the second word gets out you got arrested for...whatever it is you were gonna do. You know it would make a scene. You know there’d be people around who would see it, who would talk, who would wonder why you did that. What if I don’t want people talking like that? Wondering like that? Did you ever think of that?”

His eyes dropped to the pavement as he brought a cigarette to his lips, lit it, and then took a few long pulls from it, turning his head to the side to keep her out of his line of vision. But she needed to make sure he really understood what she was trying to tell him, so she brought a hand to his cheek, turning it back to force him to look at her. Those shards of blue ice softened just a little, and his face twisted with pain.

“I’ll tell you everything, Jax,” Allie promised him, her voice calm and resolute. “I’ll answer any question you have, and I won’t leave anything out. I don’t care if it takes us all night to do it. I want to tell you. I think I just really  _ need  _ to tell you too. But we can’t have that conversation tonight if you’re in jail.”

Jax’s lips quirked up at the corners of his mouth, in spite of everything, and he took another long pull from his cigarette before pushing out a heavy sigh.

“So, I think we should just go inside -”

“Allie, the meeting can wait,” he cut in hoarsely. “Our PI can wait too. This is more important than any of that shit right now. I think you should get in your car and go home, and then I’ll be over as soon as I can.”

“And what are you gonna do before you come home, Jax?”

His eyes dropped down to the pavement again as he flicked some ash from his cigarette. When his gaze sliced back up to her, the ice was forming again.

“I’m gonna take a drive over to that bakery and see what happens. If he’s in town right now, this might be the only fucking chance I get and I’m gonna take it.”

Allie huffed exasperatedly, and slid the hand on his cheek down to press it firmly into his leather-covered chest. “What part of  _ I don’t want you to do that  _ did you not understand? And if you say it’s not up to me to decide, well, then you’re wrong. This isn’t about you, or who I saw at that bakery. This is about  _ me _ , and I’m telling you I don’t want you to do anything stupid and I don’t want you to get yourself in trouble.”

As his hard eyes narrowed at her, she realized what she’d just said - something she’d never said out loud before or even really  _ thought  _ before. This really wasn’t about him. Either of them. And it had never been about anyone else and what they thought they knew and what they thought of her. It had always been about  _ her _ . How  _ she _ felt. What  _ she _ knew. What  _ she _ needed. She’d just never really let herself come to terms with that before now, when it really counted.

“So I’m just supposed to stand here, and let that motherfucker walk around our town and do whatever he wants? I’m just supposed to do nothing?”

She smiled up at him, letting the hand she’d kept on his chest drift back up to his cheek.

“Well, for one, you don’t even know who you’d be looking for, so you’d just be wasting your time. Don’t get me wrong, Jax, there’s a part of me that loves that you’re willing to race over there without even knowing what he looks like, but like I said, the last thing I want is for  _ you  _ to get in trouble. And second, we have a meeting inside the clubhouse that I spent the last week prepping for. You know me - I’ve spent hours and hours getting ready for this meeting, and I’m not pushing it off. I’m just not. And you’ve been waiting over a week to get the information your PI is bringing to the club today, so why would we let him ruin any of that for us? We have plans, we have a schedule and business to take care of, so let’s take care of that business and deal with the rest of it later tonight when we’re at home and when we can really talk about it.”

Jax abruptly spiked his spent cigarette onto the pavement, and scrubbed both ringed hands over his face. Then he surprised her by hauling her over to him with both arms wrapped around her waist so he could bury his face in her neck and pull her tight against his chest.

“I’m not happy about this,” he murmured against her skin. “But I’ll play it your way for now if that’s what you want.”

She turned her head so their noses touched, and then brushed her lips against his mouth. “That  _ is _ what I want, and I love you.”

Jax blew out a quick sigh, nodding probably more to himself than anything else, and he murmured against her lips, “I love you too.”

Allie smiled up at him and gestured with her head toward the clubhouse. “Now, you wanna go inside and watch me kill it in there or what?”

* * *

Jax leaned his elbows on the bar, bringing a lighter up to the cigarette in between his lips. He snapped the lighter shut and tossed it back inside his cut before glancing at the paper Bobby passed him from over his shoulder. He’d purposefully kept his distance from Allie the second they walked inside the clubhouse, and right now, he just needed the space to calm himself down.

If he let himself think about it too much, he just might push off this bar and make a run for the parking lot.

But at this point, it was probably a lost cause anyway because she was right. He really didn’t know what this guy looked like. He really didn’t think this guy would still be at that bakery. And he _really_ didn’t want his old lady and his lawyer to have to bail him out of jail today - although, he had a feeling she’d probably let him sit there for the night, in light of everything she’d just said. He wanted to be there for her, to listen to whatever she had to tell him, to comfort her, and to hold her as long as she needed him to.

All he really needed was a name. Just a name. If the guy was drifting in and out of Charming, he probably wasn’t too far away, and he probably wouldn’t be too difficult for Juice, or their PI for that matter, to track down.

“You alright, brother?” his VP leaned in, tipping his chin to him.

Jax just lifted a shoulder, his eyes drifting to the paper Bobby had handed him and started to skim the names of businesses and retail properties Allie had listed out for them.

“You don’t look alright,” Opie tried again pointedly.

“We can talk later,” Jax allowed, wanting to get his head in the game for this meeting, and the one that would follow it. Even though he had a pretty good feeling Allie wouldn’t want Opie catching wind of anything, he figured that at least would appease his VP for now so they could both focus on what their lawyer had to say.

Opie eyed him warily, but shifted his focus to the other side of the bar when Allie started to talk.

“This is a list of all the businesses and all the retail buildings currently for sale within a 20 mile radius of Charming. I know you’d prefer to stay within the city limits, but I wanted to make sure you were aware of the options available nearby too.”

Allie paused there, letting the club members, Bobby, Juice, and Opie, who’d gathered around the bar to have a moment to peruse the list she’d given them. When their eyes met, Jax felt the corners of his lips lift. If their roles were reversed right now, he wasn’t so sure he’d be able to pull himself together long enough to stand here this way, and deliver this kind of information. She was so poised. So calm. So cool under pressure. If he hadn’t seen her in the parking lot, he might not have known anything was off.

In the face of something he still couldn’t let himself wrap his head around, Allie was strong and collected. She held her head high, carrying on with this meeting because she’d done the work and wanted to show the club she was dedicated to her job. If they’d pushed the meeting, like he’d wanted, they both knew exactly what that would’ve looked like to the club, especially if they’d cancelled ten minutes before it was supposed to start. Now that the King deal had been off the table for a whole week, the club needed to start moving on other deals, and they needed to start now. Allie had come through for them once again, and apparently, she’d be damned if she was going to let anyone else take that away.

Just when he thought he couldn’t love her more.

“I listed the retail buildings in order of both lowest price and lowest risk. The open business opportunities and potential for expansion were a little harder to nail down. We’d need to actually speak to the owners to suss out the valuation and the role they’d want the club to have before I could look at return on investment and any potential risk.”

He glanced up from her work again, taking in the sight of her in her element, dressed like a million bucks in that dark green leather skirt and matching button-up, and rattling off facts and figures like the pro she was. Jax knew he should really be paying better attention to what she was saying, to focus at least on the sound of her voice to pull him further away from that dark current, but it was fucking hard.

Something had happened to her. Something that was going to be really difficult to hear. And he didn’t know how he was supposed to stand here at the bar and listen to her rattle off all these facts and figures about something that could wait, when all he wanted to do was jump on his bike and scour the streets of Charming for whoever was responsible for the look he’d seen in Allie’s eyes when she got out of her car a few minutes ago.

So he just focused on her voice and her face and her strength, and hoped that would be enough to get him through it.

“Which one do you think we should go for?” Bobby asked her from across the bar.

That was as good a question as any. Right about now, he’d willingly take whatever advice she had on this without question and without even really having heard her pitch. She was always right anyway, and the sooner the rest of the club realized that, the better it would be for all of them.

Allie didn’t hesitate, clearly having already anticipated that question, and he found his lips lifting at the corners again. He still couldn’t manage a full-fledged smile though. That would hurt too much.

“If I were you, I’d start with the lowest cost and lowest risk retail buildings and grab up as many of those as you can, as quickly as you can.”

Sound advice from a lawyer at the top of her game. He couldn’t imagine the club would need to talk through that advice for very long because it seemed pretty straightforward, pretty logical. The club had the cash ready to go, and he was sure their lawyer would get to work on drawing up the offers as soon as they gave the word.

Jax glanced around the bar to see Bobby, Opie, and Juice nodding their heads in agreement. - and Chibs, Tig, and Happy were out on a run, but would be back in time for church after their meeting with Harrison. After hearing half the club would be gone for this meeting, Piney had chosen to sit this one out, just like Jax thought he would, preferring to keep his distance from the  _ lawyer pussy _ , and right now, Jax couldn’t even sift through his emotions long enough to be pissed the old man was  _ still _ referring to her that way around him.

There wasn’t much more to say, but he could see the accomplishment in Allie’s dark eyes. The sense of victory, even if the club members he’d purposefully handpicked for this meeting were the ones who’d be most likely to be receptive and kind to her. He’d never tell her that, of course - that he’d purposefully sent the members who were still on the fence about her out on a run so they wouldn’t be here for this meeting. If she’d had her way, she probably would’ve preferred to have Tig, Chibs, and Happy here too, so they could hear her thoughts and see her in action, but he’d thought they were better off, at least for the time being, hearing it from someone like Bobby or Juice, who’d give her all the credit and all the praise at the table.

It was all about smoothing out the wrinkles, and giving it time, and Tig, Chibs, and Happy needed some more time. The King vote had gone a long way with Tig, that much Jax could tell. But they weren’t there yet. And he didn’t want to shove her in anyone’s face either...that seemed counterproductive for everyone involved, especially Allie.

Piney would probably never come around, and that was fine. He could live with that, as long as everyone else was eventually on board.

And in the end, if she knew she’d spent all that time and all that work on a pitch to an audience he’d purposefully stacked in her favor, she’d probably string him up by his heels and club him senseless. He’d probably deserve it too, but this was just one of those times where a little manipulation never hurt anyone - in fact, it was just for the best, at least right now.

So, as Allie and Bobby put their heads together at the bar, working through the list and making plans for who was going to reach out to which owner and which real estate agent first, Jax pulled up a bar stool next to Allie and let his hand drift over to the small of her back for a moment before resting it back on top of the bar.

He’d told himself that he wasn’t going to touch her whenever she was here in the clubhouse on business, but he couldn’t stop himself this time. He just needed to touch her, if even for a moment.

_ This isn’t about you _ .

She was right. This wasn’t about him. And he needed to remember that. And so, he sat next to her, not caring how much time passed, silently waiting, patiently taking this moment in - because there’d be a before and then there’d be an after, wouldn’t there? Before he knew, and after he knew. He needed to take a moment to appreciate the before, and the not knowing, because  _ after _ , he had a feeling he’d be living in a murderous rage for a long, long time.

At some point, his prepay buzzed in the front pocket of his cut, and he pulled it out, already knowing who was on the caller ID.

He flipped it open to answer it, “Hey, bro, you almost here?”

“Yeah,” Harrison told him on the other end. “I’m just about to pull into the parking lot. Sorry about all the back and forth today - something came up and I thought I was gonna be late, but then that changed just as quickly, so I was able to stay on schedule for you.”

“No worries. I’m in the clubhouse right now, but I’ll be right out.”

“Sounds good, man.”

Jax flipped his prepay shut, tipping his chin to Opie and Juice. “Harrison’s on his way in.”

Allie’s head shot up at that, and she glanced at the time on her phone before quickly shuffling the papers in front of her and Bobby to clean them up. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to run over. I know you guys have another meeting right after this.”

“Nah,” he just batted a hand at her, and then dipped a hand inside his cut for his cigarettes just because he needed something else to do with his hands. “You’re fine, darlin’. You and Bobby had important shit to untangle, and it sounds like you two have a good plan we can bring to the table later.”

She smiled softly back at him, shaking her head a little when he shot her a quick wink, and then she slid off her barstool, adjusting her purse strap over her shoulder. With her business here officially finished, he draped an arm around her shoulders to lead her out as she waved goodbye to Bobby, Opie, and Juice.

“Come on, darlin’,” he murmured in her ear. “Lemme get you to your car. You headin’ back to the office right after this?”

She nodded tightly, trying to put on a brave face, but he could see the way the last hour or so weighed on her and held her down, the weariness and emotional exhaustion written on her beautiful face.

“A’ight,” he smiled down at her as he reached for one of the clubhouse’s double doors. “I’ll try to wrap everything up around here as fast as I can. I don’t know when that will be, but I’ll be over when all that’s done, okay, baby?”

Allie smiled at him with another tight nod, and they pushed through the clubhouse’s doors together side by side. He glanced at the parking lot, nodding to himself when he saw Harrison’s familiar black Trans Am pull into T-M’s lot and head for an empty stall. One meeting down, one more to go, and then all he had to do was get through church and then he could...Allie’s steps stalled next to him, rooting right into the pavement underneath their feet.

He glanced down at her with a frown, and found her wide eyes fixed on that Trans Am, her lips parting in shock.

“Allie -”

“You know, Jax, I think I forgot something in the clubhouse, and I…” she didn’t even finish that thought, spinning on her heel and hurrying back toward the clubhouse’s double doors.

Jax’s eyes flew to the parking lot, his heart thundering in his chest, and they landed right on Harrison's car as he pulled into a stall. Then he followed her lead, bursting through the clubhouse’s doors right on her heels. Allie didn’t stop moving until she hit the side of the bar, resting both palms on the counter to take a few shaky breaths. By now, though, the club members still inside the clubhouse had started to descend, clearly sensing that something had gone gravely wrong in that parking lot.

He approached her slowly, even as he felt his prepay buzzing in his cut, and even as Opie worriedly rested a hand on her shoulder.

“Allie,” Jax tried again, acutely aware that Juice and Bobby were crowding the counter, leaning in with their elbows on the bar and watching them intently.

Her eyes shot off the counter to hit him square in the face, and he reared back at the fear churning in them.

“Jax,” she whispered hoarsely. “Whose car is that?”

He frowned back at her, even as his mind slowly started to untangle what was happening here, and even as he felt himself wading in up to his neck in that dark current. “That’s Harrison’s car. He’s our PI.”

Allie sucked in a harsh breath, her eyes darting around frantically to see the concern playing out on Opie, Bobby, and Juice’s solemn faces. And then, her eyebrows dipped down and she shook her head. 

“Wait...what? You said his name was  _ Harrison _ ?”

Opie shifted uncomfortably next to them, his gaze shifting between his president and his sister, but Jax didn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Couldn’t do much of anything except keep his focus right on her.

“That’s not his name, Jax,” she whispered.

Everything seemed to still in that moment. His heart flipped right into his stomach, and his knees nearly buckled underneath him as the truth slammed into him like a freight train. Whatever questions sat on the tip of his tongue, whatever details still needed clearing up, the most important answers and the most important details were on her face.

“What’s going on here?” Juice asked lowly from across the bar, but Jax couldn’t tear his focus away from Allie.

“Can you make him go away?” Allie whispered hoarsely, her eyes swimming with the answers. “Please, Jax...I’ll tell you everything, just make him go away. I can’t...please just make him go away.”

His first instinct, and one he was sure he’d regret later, was to do what she was asking him to do. To just take care of her, and deal with the rest of this later. Sorting through all this just wasn’t going to happen right now anyway, not out here in the open, with all these people watching, and with all this turbulence tossing and turning inside him.

So, on reflex, he reached inside his cut for the envelope of cash he’d planned to give their PI today, and handed it off to Juice.

“Get the intel,” Jax instructed, his voice sounding foreign even to his own ears. “Give him the cash, and get him the hell outta here.”

Juice took the envelope without a word, glancing at Allie grimly one more time before pushing off the bar and heading toward the clubhouse’s double doors. Opie still hadn’t moved from his spot next to Allie, his hand still rooted protectively on her shoulder. Bobby remained where he stood a few feet away, eyebrows knitted together in his forehead, his mouth opening and closing like he just couldn’t find the words right now.

Allie reached out until her hand brushed against the front of his cut, and his hand shot out to cover it, pressing it firmly into his chest before he brought her knuckles up to his lips. He pulled her off the barstool, his hand still gripping hers like his life depended on it, and he brushed his thumb across her cheek.

Then he swallowed hard, mentally preparing himself for what was about to come, and gestured with his head toward the hallway.

“Come on, baby,” he murmured hoarsely.

Opie’s hand shot out to grip Allie’s shoulder again, and he shook his head fiercely. “Someone needs to tell me what the hell is going on here.”

Allie shifted to glance at Opie, who was looking more and more like he was either on the verge of smashing something or on the verge of tears. 

Yeah, he knew that feeling. He was treading water in it right now.

“Jax and I need to talk,” she whispered to him, chewing on her bottom lip in thought before tilting her head toward the hallway. “Maybe you should come with us, Ope.”

The grim frown etched on Opie’s forehead only deepened, but he trailed along after them as Jax led Allie down the hallway to his dorm, his arm wrapped protectively around her waist until he unlocked the door and pushed it open for them. Opie silently closed the door behind them, and moved over to the desk against the wall, where he leaned against it and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting and dreading.

Jax felt that dread finally creep across his chest and burrow its way inside his heart as he sank down onto the bed, gently tugging Allie with him. He kept a hand on her back, just to make sure she knew he was there, that he wasn’t going anywhere, that nothing she said in this room would change the way he felt about her.

As if she could read his thoughts, her eyes lifted from the carpet and landed on him, and she pressed a taut smile to her lips.

“Allie,” Jax prompted softly. “Where have you seen that car before?”

Her lips lifted, and then she gave him his first answer. “At the bakery today.”

He nodded tightly, feeling his chest burn and heave underneath his cut. The only thing keeping him on this bed and in this room right now, though, was her.

Allie sucked in a deep breath, her eyes flicking first to him, then to her brother, and then back to him again. And then she gave him his second and his third answers.

“His name is Tyler Chadwick, or least that’s how  _ I  _ knew him. We used to date in college…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - So the next chapter will be almost entirely a flashback of what happened between Allie and Harrison in college, with a brief scene at the end to show Jax and Opie's immediate reactions. Harrison has really been running a long con with the club (as I'm sure you've guessed at this point) and I've had this planned since he first showed up in chapter four - I've been trying to drop little pieces of Allie's past here and there, and gradually having Harrison call Jax more when he's with Allie to slowly but surely bring these two pieces of the story together, and so that by the time we got to this point, the surprise isn't that it happened to Allie, but who did it and how.
> 
> In terms of content, the next chapter will have the right trigger warnings attached to it, but if you'd like to get a heads-up ahead of time, please feel free to send me a PM and I'll answer any questions you might have before you decide to read the next chapter. Nothing is described in graphic detail, but there is a scene of that depicts sexual assault. (Again, hopefully this is not a surprise at this point).
> 
> I should also clarify here that, in case this was unclear anywhere, that I work for an attorney in my real, non-fanfic related life, and that attorney helps colleges investigate Title IX violations on campus - Title IX is sex and gender-based discrimination, and sexual assault and misconduct is included in that. So everything that you'll see in the next chapter is what I see on a regular basis in working on these cases (but I promise, no details are specific to any one case I've worked on, but it's 100 percent exactly the kind of thing we see all the time).
> 
> Like I said, if you'd like a heads-up before the next chapter is posted next week, please feel free to PM me and I'm happy to talk to you about that ahead of time.
> 
> Aside from that, I can't wait to hear your thoughts on this chapter, and on this twist, because this really changes everything now, doesn't it? As always, thank you for reading!


	29. Chapter Twenty-Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - Please take note of the rating, especially for this chapter. As I mentioned in the last update, this chapter is mostly a flashback of Allie's experience in college and contains a brief (but not graphic) scene of sexual assault.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

_Thirteen Years Ago_

Allie took one last look in the mirror, satisfied with the outfit she'd chosen for tonight. It was _just_ sexy enough to meet the Sigma Phi house's rules for entry, but not too much that she felt uncomfortable. Her tight pencil skirt ended mid-thigh, and it was definitely shorter than she was used to wearing, but the rules did indicate that any skirt longer than 12 inches was prohibited.

She laughed a little to herself, shaking her head at these ridiculous rules, but it _was_ the Sigma house and their rules were their rules, she supposed. She knew how frats worked, and knew it was more about the power and the control than anything, so she was willing to play by their rules for tonight, because at the _next_ party, Kappa would be calling the shots.

Her eyes flicked back to the mirror as she turned up the Taylor Swift song playing from her mp3 player. A white button-up seemed like a bad idea for a lot of reasons. First, it was a little more transparent than she would've liked, but seeing as how she didn't have a button-up like that to go with her grey skirt, and had had to borrow one from her suitemate, Meg, beggars couldn't really be choosers. It was too late to go shopping anyway. Still...she'd been to plenty of Sigma parties before to know that someone was bound to dump a drink on her at some point. That was just how those parties went. And then that transparent button-up would be a lot more transparent, but there wasn't much she could do about it now.

But she was still wavering on just how many buttons to leave undone. Her black push-up bra didn't have that much to push up, exactly, but if she undid one more button, the entire front section of her lacy bra would be on full display. All that being said, she _did_ have the correct amount of buttons left undone, per the carefully-worded Sigma rules for this corporate CEOs and office hoes party.

"Hey!" Meg called out from behind her. "Are you ready to go or what? Hannah just texted and said everyone is downstairs already."

Just as she glanced apprehensively one more time in the mirror, feeling a little too exposed, a little too uncomfortable with the skirt and the button-up, her phone started ringing on her nightstand. Allie dove for it, hitting the talk button to answer it.

"Hello?" she answered breathlessly.

"Hey, babe," her boyfriend's smooth voice greeted her. "You ladies almost on your way or what?"

"Hey, Ty. Yeah, we were just about to leave."

Allie's eyes lifted to where Meg was sprawled on her bed, and her suitemate rolled her eyes at her. Allie just huffed out a laugh and shook her head. It was _sort of_ the truth anyway.

"Alright, babe. I just wanted to see where you were at," Tyler told her. "I haven't seen you all day, and I miss you. Ugh, I just wish you were here right _now_. We're good though, right?"

Allie inhaled slowly, and then another deep breath just to give herself a minute. "Yeah, Ty, everything's good. I'll text you when we're at the door, okay?"

"Sounds good. I'll make sure everyone gets in. See you in a bit. Love you, babe."

"Yeah," Allie exhaled, feeling her stomach churn a little at the three words she'd have to say next. "Love you too."

She hit the end button and tossed her phone onto her bed with a heavy sigh. It was all there in his voice - some apology, a little bit of indifference, more than a little bit of expectation. The night before had gotten...weird in his room at Sigma to say the least. And really uncomfortable. And, if she was being completely honest with herself, it had turned into something she really, really hadn't liked.

" _Come on, babe. I don't get what the big deal is_."

" _You don't have to get it_ ," she'd told him as she pushed his hand away from her skirt. _"I don't want to do this right now."_

Tyler had rolled off her, scrubbing both hands over his face, still shaking his head at her. " _Oh yeah? Well, sorry. I guess I was just under the impression that my girlfriend would have sex with me at some point. What the fuck is the point of this anyway?"_

" _What's that supposed to mean?"_

" _Oh, come on, Allie,"_ Tyler had laughed. _"The whole house was watching one of your mom's movies last night. I don't know, but_ she _seemed like she liked the train those dudes were runnin' on her, and yet here_ I _am_ , _getting turned down left and right. I just don't fucking get it, Allie."_

Tears had pricked her eyes, and at that moment, all she'd wanted to do was get out of that room. _"That's a really shitty thing to say to me. And I thought you promised you wouldn't let them do that in the house anymore. I told you I don't like that. It's bad enough everyone already knows about it. Why can't you guys watch some different porn, huh? It's not like you don't have plenty of options."_

" _Yeah, well, your mom looks like she gives good head. Just like you, babe."_

" _Fuck you."_

Tyler's eyes had glinted with a darkness she wasn't so sure she liked, and then before she knew what was happening, his hands were in her hair, pulling her head down to shove her face roughly against the crotch of his jeans. He'd held her there for a few moments, pushing down with the kind of strength that scared her, and despite the fact that she struggled, he just muffled her protests against his jeans. When he finally let her up, she slapped him on the chest, and then hit him again when he burst out laughing.

" _You asshole! That's not funny!"_

" _Sorry,"_ he'd held his hands up in defense, and then propped his elbows behind his head with that charming smile on his face that always wore her defenses down. " _I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to do that."_

They'd spent the rest of the night still in that bed, watching some stupid movie Tyler had wanted to watch, but since then Allie hadn't been able to shake the pit forming in her stomach whenever she thought of that moment, or her boyfriend. She carried that feeling down the stairs with her in the Kappa house, where the rest of her sorority sisters were waiting so they could head to the Sigma party.

Allie trailed behind the rest of her friends - they were all in party mode, and a lot of them had already been pre-gaming in the house, but Allie just wasn't in the mood for this right now. If her presence wasn't expected by both her sisters and the whole Sigma house, she would've just made up some excuse to sit this one out. Besides, a CEOs and office hoes party was stupid and really goddamn sexist. But here she was, towing the party line, going along with something she really didn't feel comfortable with and really didn't want to do.

Maybe what was really needling away at her was that she really _didn't_ want to have to see her boyfriend tonight, and maybe that was really the problem. She wanted to avoid him, and it would be pretty hard to avoid him at a party at his house. Sure, he'd told her he loved her. She said it back, and at the time, when they'd first started saying it, she'd thought she meant it. She thought he'd meant it too. But now, she was starting to feel like he was just telling her whatever he thought she needed to hear so he could get her clothes off.

_Just like your mom._

And now, remembering the fact that Tyler's entire house had been watching some of her mom's movies before the party, and probably some of her dad's too...that just made her want to go to this party even less. Someone was going to say something stupid to her, and she didn't feel like clawing anyone's eyes out tonight.

She knew, deep down, that it needed to be over. They obviously weren't making each other happy, and Allie just couldn't take this goddamn _pressure_ anymore. They'd been together for four months, and in her mind, she was well within her rights not to feel ready for sex, and to make sure he wanted to have sex with her for the right reasons. They'd gotten really serious really fast, and she just wanted them to slow down a little more. But every time they were alone together, it was basically non-stop. Tyler trying to put his hand down her pants, Tyler trying to put _her_ hand down _his_ pants, Tyler trying to talk her into something she just wasn't ready for. Sure, they'd messed around before and she _had_ given him head before, but last night just...it just didn't feel right.

And it was becoming clearer and clearer that he really didn't want to have sex with her for the right reasons. That he was just telling her whatever he thought she needed to hear to get naked for him and act out some of those scenes from her parents' movies. It just needed to be over. She just needed to shake herself loose of him because he was a jerk, because he didn't really care about her anyway, and because all he was after with her was sex.

Her phone vibrated in her purse, and she rolled her eyes, huffing a little. Couldn't he just wait? She'd said they were on their way…but she checked the caller ID anyway, her eyebrows lifting when she realized who was calling her, and she immediately hit the answer button.

"Hey, Ope! What's up?"

"Hey, Al," her step-brother's deep voice greeted her, but all the yelling and the hollering in the background made him really difficult to hear. "How's it goin'?"

"I'm okay," she laughed. "What's going on by you? I can barely hear you - are you in the clubhouse?"

"Yeah!" Opie was yelling now, probably so she could hear him better. "We're celebratin', 'cuz I just found out I'm gonna be a dad!"

Allie's steps stalled in surprise, her eyes and her mouth both opening wide. Holy shit. Maybe he was celebrating _now_ …but Opie and Donna were 19. That was crazy. Completely crazy. And she had a sinking feeling Donna wasn't exactly celebrating the way Opie was right now. But still, she pushed that aside, and gave him what he'd called her for.

"That's great, Ope! Congratulations!"

"Yeah, you're gonna be an aunt!"

"How far along is she?"

Opie just laughed over the noise, and she could practically see him shaking his head. "Fuck if I know. All I know is that she's knocked up with my kid."

"Well, I'm really…" she trailed off as another painfully familiar voice filled her ear.

"Who the fuck you talkin' to, Ope?" his deep voice rumbled. "You got a shot waitin' for ya on the bar!"

Then, from what she could tell, there were some muffled voices and some shuffling and probably a little bit of a struggle before she heard Opie cry out, "Hey, asshole! That's my phone!" and then his smooth voice filled her ear again.

"Hello? Who the fuck is this?"

Allie pushed a deep breath, ignoring the way her heart twisted at the sound of his voice, and replied wryly, "Hello, Jax."

"Aw, darlin', I just _knew_ it was you," Jax told her, his words slurred and heavy like he was already knee-deep in a bottle of whatever they'd been drinking tonight.

"That's nice."

This was the fourth or fifth time he'd grabbed the phone away from Opie whenever he'd been talking to her in the last few months, and when it was clear they'd been drinking pretty heavily in the clubhouse. She didn't know whether to be annoyed or a little thrilled by it.

Considering these little phone conversations were the most they'd ever talked…probably _ever_ , in the years she'd known him, and definitely more than he'd ever bothered to say to her in high school, it was weird that he'd pick now _,_ when she'd already been away at school for almost two years, to be grabbing the phone from Opie like this. Allie couldn't really make heads or tails of it. And just like the other times before, she knew she should hang up on his drunk ass, but she just couldn't. Hearing his voice over the phone warmed her in a way Tyler's voice never did, and she wasn't going to spend too much time thinking about _that_ right now either.

Still, she didn't know where he got off thinking she even _wanted_ to talk to him in the first place. He certainly hadn't changed since they'd graduated, and if anything, he'd only gotten worse since he and Opie had officially patched into the club. He probably _did_ know she'd rather lick rust than purposefully have a conversation with him, even if it was just over the phone, and that was probably exactly why he'd wrangled the phone from Opie just now.

"And what are you up to on this fine evening?" he slurred again.

"I'm headed to a party with some of my sorority sisters."

"Nice," he laughed. "And where you headed to? A jell-o wrestling contest? Maybe a wet T-shirt competition instead?"

It was right on the tip of her tongue to tell him to screw off, or at the very least just hang up on him, but the truth spilled out of her before she could stop herself. "It's a corporate CEOs and office hoes party, actually."

"Well," he chuckled, his deep voice vibrating a little too sexily over the phone for her liking. "Even better. And I assume you're dressed appropriately?"

"You assume correctly. My skirt is the appropriate length for entry into the house."

She could practically see the expression that had to be written all over his face, and as much as she hated to admit it, that _did_ give her a little thrill.

"What _is_ the appropriate length for entry into the house, anyway? Five inches? Six inches?"

"Twelve inches," she informed him dryly. "And the party's at my boyfriend's frat house."

That didn't deter his amused, albeit bitter, chuckle. "Ooh, look at _you_. Fancy college girl with her fancy college boyfriend goin' to a fancy college party."

 _And_ …she was done with this conversation. "Oh yeah? Well, I hope your dick falls off, you asshole."

"Nah, don't worry about me, darlin'," he chuckled heartily. "My dick's gonna be gettin' a little workout tonight, but I'm sure I'll survive."

"Here's hoping you don't."

"Keep tellin' yourself that," he slurred again. "Ya know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were a little jealous of the lucky girls who're gonna get the privilege of ridin' my _dick_ tonight."

Allie huffed out a laugh, shaking her head and rolling her eyes when Megan turned around to see what she was laughing at. "You mean the lucky girls who're gonna get your laundry list of venereal diseases?"

He barked out a laugh. "Oh, there's no way that's happening. I _always_ wrap my tool, darlin'. _Always._ "

"You're the worst. _And_ an asshole, just to be clear," she smiled into the phone. "Seeing as how you can't keep yourself to just one tonight."

"Oh, you know it. I've got my eye on a couple options right now."

"Gross. Now I really _do_ hope your dick falls off because you deserve it."

His laugh bounced off the speaker, warming her body in a way she didn't like. "Thanks, darlin'. Glad to know you care so much about my dick."

"Eat glass, Jax."

He was still chuckling through the phone when she heard a muffled shout, and some more muffled noises in the background before she heard Opie's voice again. "Sorry about that asshole, Al. He's pretty wasted already, if you couldn't tell."

"Yeah," she huffed. "I could tell."

"There's no way he's gonna remember this in the morning, so just - whatever he said to you, just forget it."

And then she heard Jax hollering in the background: " _Hey, you fucker! I wasn't done talkin' to her yet! No, don't push me -"_

"Sorry, Al," Opie told her. "I gotta go. Shit's about to take a turn here real quick. We'll talk later - you have a good night, okay? Be safe."

"You too, Ope," she smiled. "And I will."

She hit the end button and tossed her phone back into her purse, still shaking her head. It was over, she told herself. All of it - this stupid relationship with Tyler that wasn't even much of a relationship anyway, that stupid crush she'd had on Jax in high school. All of that just needed to get far, far behind her.

"Hey, Allie?" one of her Kappa sisters, Kara, and incidentally, the chapter president, was watching her now from over her shoulder with careful, suspicious eyes.

"Yeah?"

Kara's eyes narrowed slightly. "Did I just hear you tell someone you _hoped their dick fell off_? Is that what I heard?"

"Uh…" Allie's eyes drifted helplessly to Megan, who just grimaced back at her with a shrug.

"I'm pretty sure Tyler wouldn't be happy to know you were talking to another guy like that, Allie," Kara told her in a syrupy-sweet, venom-laced voice.

 _I'm pretty sure you should mind your own goddamn business, Kara,_ she thought hotly, but she also knew better than to talk to her sorority president that way.

"I wasn't talking to another guy," Allie jumped to explain. "I was talking to my _brother_ and then one of his asshole friends grabbed the phone away from him."

Kara eyed her warily. "So you _were_ talking to another guy."

"Didn't you hear what Allie said?" Meg jumped in. "Geez. Just drop it. We're almost at the party anyway."

Allie glanced up for the first time since she'd been on the phone with Opie and Jax, really taking in her surroundings, and realized that they actually were almost to the Sigma house. And in the time she'd been talking to Jax, she'd also been completely distracted from the fact that she absolutely did not want to be at this party. She'd think about thanking him next time he grabbed the phone away from Ope, but she had a feeling he'd like that too much.

Sigma house was a typical frat house on Greek row at USC, except for the fact that it was also _the_ frat house, and only the most popular, attractive, and athletic guys on campus had any real shot at becoming a member. The frat itself was just as exclusive as their parties - they had a guest list, and if you weren't on it, you didn't have a prayer of getting in. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if Tyler would blacklist her from Sigma's parties after she ended things, but that was something she could live with, if it meant she didn't have to put on this stupid act with him anymore.

Tomorrow, she told herself, as she shot her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend a text to let him know they were almost there. After this stupid, sexist party was over, and when they could just talk like adults and go their separate ways. The last thing she wanted to do was make a scene at a place like this, with all her sorority sisters around - and at the Sigma house especially. If people talked shit about her before, they _really_ would now if she made a scene with Tyler tonight.

True to his word, Tyler was waiting for the Kappa girls at the front door, dressed to the nines in his suit jacket, tie, and dress pants. His chiseled chest and abs were on full display, seeing as how he was shirtless underneath his suit jacket, and before, she might've been drooling at the sight. Now, she just rolled her eyes at the annoying display. He really thought he was hot shit, didn't he?

Ugh, she was just so over _all_ of this.

But, of course, she had a part to play tonight. And she'd play that part because that was what she was supposed to do, and what was expected of her. So, she dutifully kissed Tyler on the cheek when he let the Kappa girls in, one by one, checked them all off the guest list, and gave them all their "re-entry stickers," which was just a carefully drawn smiley face right on top of their cleavage. He drew those smiley faces on every single one of her sorority sisters, and Allie found herself narrowing her eyes when Kara stood up on her tiptoes to whisper something in Tyler's ear. In about half a second, Tyler's head whipped around to face Allie, his dark eyes slicing through her dangerously.

So Kara obviously wasted zero time in being a little tattle-tale.

When it was her turn to get the smiley face, Tyler took his sweet time with the magic marker, probably thinking he was being sexy or something, which was pretty impossible since she'd just had to watch him do the same thing to about eight girls ahead of her.

Then he dipped his head lower to murmur in her ear, "What's this I hear about you talking to some other guy on the way over here?"

Allie flashed Kara a quick glare, but Kara just played stupid. That was a role Kara was pretty good at playing.

"I was talking to my brother, and he was telling me that his girlfriend is pregnant, and that I'm gonna be an aunt. Is that _okay_ with you or is my brother off-limits to talk to?"

Tyler's hands immediately flew up in the air, and he reared back like that was the worst thing she'd ever said to him, and like he couldn't figure out just what he'd done that was so bad.

"Okay, okay. Shit, sorry. She said something about you telling some guy you hoped his dick fell off. You talk to your brother like that?"

Oh, so it was going to be like that? When she wasn't even inside the party yet? Fine, she could play this game if that's what he wanted to do.

"No," Allie shot back hotly. "I don't talk to my brother like that. He was at the clubhouse celebrating and one of his stupid friends grabbed the phone from him, and _that's_ who I was talking to when I told him I hoped his dick fell off," and then she leaned in so only he could hear, "And Ty, I hope _your_ dick falls off because you're being a real asshole right now. How many girls' boobs have you drawn smiley faces on already tonight, huh? 50? 100?"

Tyler reared back again, a cocky smirk crossing his face as he leaned closer to her. "Alright, so it's gonna be like that tonight? I thought you said we were fine?"

"Maybe I lied."

He just huffed out a laugh, shaking his head as she pushed past him to follow Megan inside the house. Allie didn't bother looking over her shoulder to see if he was following her. She figured he probably was, and she just couldn't deal with this right now. So much so that she was seriously considering just leaving and telling him to go fuck himself in front of everybody tonight.

But seeing as how she was already in the house, she figured she might as well try to salvage what was left of the night. So, she marched right over to the kitchen, where there was an assortment of open bottles and a massive punch bowl. She learned a while ago that she really didn't like beer, so she steered clear of the keg, reaching for a red solo cup instead and filling it to the top with the contents of the punch bowl - Tyler's signature jungle juice concoction of vodka, gin, whiskey, fruit punch, orange soda, and a little bit of grenadine. It was disgusting, but it would get the job done tonight.

Before that run-in with Tyler at the door, she'd just wanted to blend in and have a drink or two. Now, she was just _done_. Now, she just wanted to numb herself from all this shit and dance and have a good time and then pass out in her bed. That didn't seem like too much to ask.

She felt a warm hand slide around her waist, but she batted it away. The _last_ thing she wanted right now was for him to touch her. After polishing off her first cup, she immediately refilled it and took a few big gulps as she looked for Meg out on the dance floor.

"You gonna slow down," Tyler murmured in her ear from behind her. "Or am I gonna be picking you off the floor tonight?"

His hands ghosted around her waist again, but she just shrugged out of his grasp, only to be reeled back in until she felt his hot breath on her ear again.

"Is this about last night?" he whispered. "I told you I was sorry about that. I didn't mean it, babe."

"Bullshit you didn't mean it," Allie told him from over her shoulder. "I think you knew _exactly_ what you were doing and you just didn't care."

"Aw, come on, babe. You don't have to be such a bitch about it, you know."

Allie just huffed out a laugh and took another big gulp, wincing as the alcohol burned her throat. She shoved him away as she polished off her second cup, and then promptly reached for the ladle in the punch bowl to fill it again.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Allie," Tyler shook his head, his eyes wide. "Slow the hell _down_."

"Don't tell me what to do," she sassed back, pushing her way through the crowd to find Meg out on the dance floor, and leaving Tyler in her wake.

She found her suitemate sandwiched between one of Tyler's Sigma brothers and his football player buddies, dancing away and having the time of her life with a red solo cup in her hand. She joined Meg out in the middle just as "Yeah" by Usher started blaring through the speakers mounted up on the wall. Finally, she could just let herself have a good time - and she did just that, feeling loose and limber from the alcohol buzzing through her, raising her arms in the air, red solo cup and all, to dance and sing along to the song.

After two Rhianna songs, and a P!nk song, Allie was swaying along to "Gold Digger" by Kanye West, when she felt a pair of familiar arms wrap around her waist, moving to the music with her body. She leaned in for a moment, giving in to the routine, to the act and the part she had to play, and then she remembered herself, and remembered that he was an asshole who she was absolutely breaking up with. And then she shoved out of his arms, turning around to find Tyler's furious dark eyes staring down at her.

"This is not the time or the place," he whispered harshly. "All my fucking brothers are around right now. Don't pull this shit here."

"I don't really care," Allie shot back. She was just so over this, and she just wanted to be left alone to have a good night, but he just couldn't take the hint. "I don't wanna do this with you anymore. Leave me alone."

She turned on her heel to walk away, but his hand shot out to grip her wrist and yank her back, slamming her right into his chest.

"You don't get to decide when we're over and when we're not," he murmured darkly. "We're not over, Allie. We're just fucking not."

Allie yanked her arm away and gave him a hard shove in the chest, sending him stumbling backward into the guy behind him, but he just pushed off the guy and stalked away.

 _Good_ , Allie thought, _now leave me the hell alone._

She watched him long enough to see his dark head disappear in the crowd, and then she caught Meg's eye, gesturing with her head toward the kitchen and holding up her empty cup. Meg just shook her head, signaling that she was going to stay by the dance floor, so Allie just shrugged and made her way through the crowd back over to that punch bowl. She filled up her cup for refill number four, taking a generous swig, and ignoring the way the room had started to tilt ever so slightly.

Tyler and one of his buddies, Justin, appeared in the kitchen, and Tyler eyed her warily as he grabbed hold of the tequila next to him and took a long pull directly from the bottle. Then he held it out to her, his eyebrows lifting in challenge.

"You might as well finish the job, Allie," he told her above the pounding music. "Go ahead. You know you want to."

Allie lifted a shoulder, determined to meet that challenge head-on. She had to squint a little to see the bottle he was holding out to her, and the first time she reached for it, all she got was a handful of air.

Faint snickering echoed somewhere above her head, and then Tyler stepped closer to put the tequila bottle in her hand. Once her knuckles closed around it, she brought it up to her lips and took a long pull, purposefully holding her lips around it longer than Tyler did, as if that would somehow prove something to him. Then she wiped her mouth, stumbling back into the counter behind her. But she rallied, surging forward with some newfound balance, and downed the rest of the contents of her red solo cup.

Then, with her eyes locked on Tyler, she held up the cup dramatically and let it slip from her fingertips, sending it tumbling down to the counter, where it bounced off the edge and landed on the ground.

She bared her teeth at him through a grin and then turned her wrist to flip him the bird. And then she grabbed a fresh cup and filled it again.

"That little thing is gonna be face down on the floor pretty soon, bro," Justin muttered to Tyler, who just lifted a shoulder.

Tyler kept his dark eyes fixed on her as he replied, "Who fucking cares."

Allie just flipped him the middle finger again as she stalked out of the kitchen and as her equilibrium shifted on its axis, and fixed permanently to the left. And then it moved to the right, and then to the left again as the room got a tiny bit more blurry. She poured some more jungle juice down her throat, satisfied that it didn't seem to burn her throat anymore. Everything had finally gone comfortably numb. Now, she could finally just shut all the noise out and just forget for a little while.

She had about half her cup down already by the time she stumbled into the living room, where a small crowd had gathered around the TV. They were whooping and hollering and cheering, and she pushed her way through, teetering on her high heels, and wobbling backward when someone jostled her from behind. Even though her vision was blurry, and starting to double, it took all of three seconds to realize what was playing on the screen right now.

Allie stumbled forward, jabbing a finger at the screen just as her mom dipped her head down to wrap her lips around some guy's dick.

"Turn that off!"

That only egged the small crowd on, and one of them - some dumbass football player probably - pointed at her with his mouth gaping open in sick amusement.

"Dude, that's your _mom_ , right? Your fucking _mom_?"

"Shut up, you jerk!" Allie shouted back at him. She felt like she'd somehow stepped outside her body, watching this happen. "Somebody turn that off!"

She turned around, immediately assaulted by the image of her mom's head bobbing up and down on the TV screen, and when she opened her eyes again, more people were openly laughing at her.

"Anybody wanna take some bets on whether this little firecracker over here knows how to bang like mommy?"

"What's it gonna take, huh, baby girl? Can we make a movie too or does that cost extra?"

Allie saw red - blurry, hazy red - and she stared up at the wall of muscle in front of her, holding her ground, despite the way the room sputtered and churned around her. "You think I'd ever let that shriveled up dick anywhere near me, asshole?"

"Whoa!" someone on the other side of her laughed. "Little kitty cat's got some claws!"

Now, Allie spun on her heel to face the jerk who dared to laugh at her. "I said. Turn. It. Off."

"Ooo," he wiggled his fingers in her face. "What are you gonna do about it?"

She didn't hesitate, choosing to respond by tipping what was left of her drink over the top of the idiot's head. Loud catcalls and more whoops filled the air, and then some arms wrapped around her waist to spin her around, whisking her out of the room and away from that TV where her mom was going to town on some guy.

"That's enough," Tyler murmured in her ear. "You're officially cut off for the night."

Allie struggled against his grasp, elbowing him with her free arm, but he didn't give, hauling her back to the kitchen, where he deposited her on top of the counter.

"Leave me alone, Ty," she groped in the air for him, missing his chest on the first try, and barely hitting him on the second try. He was standing in front of her. She _knew_ that. The problem was that she couldn't really _see_ him though. "I don't wanna be with you anymore."

"Are you done making a fool of me tonight? Can you just stop acting like such a drunk bitch right now?"

"Oh, it's _all_ about you, isn't it? It's all about what _you_ want."

Tyler made a grab for her, but somehow she jerked out of his grip, jostling backward but catching herself just in time before she fell right off the counter.

"Fuck you, Ty," Allie slurred, her voice feeling heavy, weighed down by every beat that pulsed from the speakers above them. "We're done. O-ver. I'm sick of you being such a jerk every single day just because you're not getting what you want. What about what I want, huh? Did you ever think of that?"

He stepped forward, trying to move in between her legs, and started kissing her neck. "What do you want then, babe? Just tell me what you want and I'll do it."

Allie shoved him hard in the chest. "I want you to leave me alone!"

His eyes darkened into narrowed slits and he moved in between her legs again, putting both hands around her face to force her to look at him. She didn't want to look at him, and she definitely didn't want him in between her legs like this. Allie tried to bat his hands away, but it was like they were gridlocked around her face, refusing to listen to her, refusing to do what she was telling him to do.

"Come on, babe. This isn't cool," Tyler murmured, his face a hard block of ice. "I love you, Allie. I fucking _love_ you, and you're being a real bitch right now."

She batted at his hands again, shaking her head, trying to push herself off the counter, but something was in her way. "No, you _don't_. You _don't_ love me. And you wanna know what? I don't think I love you either."

That was the truth. She'd finally said it. He didn't love her, and she didn't love him. She didn't know why she'd ever thought she loved him in the first place. It wasn't like he deserved it. They'd just been pretending to feel things they didn't really feel, and now they could stop pretending. And somewhere beneath the fog and the sea of blurry faces she was wading through, she knew another truth too. But those were words she knew she could never tell anyone or ever say out loud.

She pushed and shoved the mountain in front of her away, finally breaking free of it, teetering on her heels when they hit the floor. Her eyes closed to ward off the dizziness that hit her in waves, and when she opened them again, everything was out of focus, and blurry. She tried to find just _one_ familiar face to zero in on for some balance, but everything was starting to tip to the side again, twisting and turning until it all turned upside down. Allie stopped right in the middle of somewhere, but she didn't know where that somewhere was. How had she gotten here? _Where_ was here?

Her eyes squeezed shut again, and when she opened them, there was a doorway. Blurry faces were moving in and around it, and maybe that was where she was supposed to go? She could leave this place then, couldn't she? Where was her bed? She just wanted to lay down and fall asleep. Her feet felt heavy and she couldn't lift her arms. Why couldn't she lift her arms?

Her feet started moving toward that doorway, just as a tall blonde figure walked through. Allie squinted, her hand reaching out, batting away the fog, to see what was really in front of her. The leather seemed real, for just a second. The long, surfer-boy blonde hair seemed real, even if it was just for a second. He was smiling at her now with that familiar, lop-sided smirk that twisted her insides around and back again. And those navy blue eyes…they seemed real. Weren't they?

She closed her eyes again, and shook her head. When she opened then again, he was gone. Allie's heavy feet carried her out of that doorway and onto the grass. Her shoes were in her hands now, but she didn't know how they'd gotten there. Now, she groped inside her purse for her phone, squinting through the blurry screen until she found her recent calls and hit dial.

It rang and rang and rang. And then she immediately hit the call button again. It rang and rang and rang, but this time, she heard it:

"Allie?"

She thought that was Opie's voice. It sounded like him. She thought she'd meant to call him.

"Allie, you okay?"

"Hmm, I don't know," her voice didn't sound like her voice. But then Opie's voice didn't sound like Opie's voice either.

"What do you mean you don't know? Where are you right now?"

She looked around, but there was nothing to see. Nowhere to go. Nothing to do. "I don't know."

"Alright, Allie. Just stay right where you are. Don't move. Are you outside? Inside?"

Allie swallowed hard, turning around and around in a circle until something came barreling right at her.

"Allie!" Meg yelled, waving her arms around to get her attention. "What are you doing? Were you gonna walk home by yourself? What the hell?"

"Allie?" she heard someone calling out to her from the phone still by her ear. Then Meg took the phone from her and started talking into it.

"Hi, this is her roommate," Meg told him. "Hi…yeah, I got her. Yeah, she's really, _really_ drunk right now. I think she was gonna try to walk home by herself…I'll make sure she gets somewhere safe tonight. Her boyfriend is around here somewhere…yeah, no problem. Bye."

Then Meg put Allie's phone back in her purse, and gripped her elbow to start pulling her back into the house. "I can't believe you were gonna walk home by yourself. That's _really_ stupid, Allie. You freaked your brother out too, I think."

Her feet were moving again, but she didn't know where she was going. There were hands on her hips now, she thought - were those her hands or someone else's? Allie stumbled, and she squinted again, leaning in and falling down on something else, but then she was being lifted up in the air. Loud cheers echoed and bounced off the walls, but they got further and further away as the world tilted and spun around her.

Darkness surrounded her, pulling her in until it felt like she was running down a dark tunnel. Suddenly, she landed on something soft. Something blue. Hands were on her head, in her hair, pulling her face somewhere, and holding her down. Something hard was in her mouth and it hit the back of her throat, but she pushed against it, shaking her head, trying to form the words that just wouldn't come.

The words were there, right in the back of her throat with that _thing_ , but she just couldn't bust them loose.

She didn't want that thing in her mouth. She pushed again, holding her arms out to keep it away, and something was pushing her back, holding her down until her face hit soft fabric underneath her.

Cool air hit her skin, hands crept up her skirt, pressure hit the back of her head, keeping her in place, holding her down, and as she drifted in and out of that deep darkness, she felt it. Burning and stretching, pushing inside, invading her body, but she couldn't move her arms to push it away. Couldn't move at all. Whatever it was, it just _hurt_. It burned and it just _hurt_.

She squeezed her eyes shut, finally willing that darkness to just take her and carry her away.

* * *

Shooting pain hit her in waves as Allie pinched her eyes open, rolling onto her side. That didn't feel any better, and she groaned, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Her eyes drifted down to the blue comforter covering her, and then with mounting dread, her eyes slammed into Tyler's sleeping back. Allie sucked in a harsh breath, squeezing her eyes shut as she lifted the blanket, before finally letting herself glance down to find her skirt pushed all the way up to her hips. Her underwear was nowhere to be found.

Her heart flip flopped into her stomach, and for a moment, she thought she was going to throw up right here in this bed.

And as she moved slowly off the bed, that dull ache between her legs deepened and burned, but she winced through the pain, groping around the floor for her lost underwear and pushing her skirt back down.

By now, Tyler had stirred in his bed, shifting on his back to face her with a dumb smile on his face.

"Hey, babe," he murmured sleepily. "You on your way back to your house? You can stay a little longer if you want."

Allie reared back, blinking at him like he'd just sprouted a second head. "Tyler, did we - did we have sex last night?"

He just frowned back at her. "What do you mean?"

Her heart stammered in her chest now. "Did we have sex last night? It's not a complicated question."

"You don't know?"

"No, I don't know," she huffed in frustration. "That's why I'm asking. And if we did…Tyler, I didn't _want -_ "

Tyler shot off the bed in a flash, and she winced at his nakedness, unable to watch as he pulled a pair of shorts over his hips. "Now, hold on just a second," he held a hand out to her, but she stepped out of his reach. "You were all over me last night, babe. You don't remember that? You were practically taking my clothes off in the kitchen in front of everyone."

Allie frowned, shaking her head as she sifted through what she _did_ remember from the night before, and it definitely wasn't that. "No. That's not what happened."

"Babe," he sighed. "You were wasted off your ass. You obviously don't remember - and hey, I was drunk too, okay? It's not my fault you shoved your hand down my pants and told me you wanted to go upstairs with me. Don't fucking put that on me because you were too drunk to control yourself."

"There's no way I did that. No…that's not something I would do. That's not something I _wanted_ to do."

"Yeah?" Tyler just ran a hand through his sleep-mussed hair. "Well, you did."

"No, I didn't. I remember telling you to leave me alone. I remember telling you I didn't want to be with you anymore, which, now I _really_ don't want to be with you anymore. How could you do that -"

"I didn't do jackshit," Tyler's dark eyes turned to stone, and he jabbed a finger in her face. " _You_ were the one who had your hands all over me. _You_ were the one who said you wanted to go upstairs. If you did something last night you didn't wanna do because you were too wasted, then you've got no one to blame but yourself for that, babe."

"I remember pushing you away in the kitchen. I did that. I _know_ I did that," Allie whispered, more to herself than anything. "I didn't want to have sex with you last night, Tyler. I didn't want to have sex with you _ever_."

He just huffed out a laugh. "Oh yeah? Well, you sure as hell weren't saying no last night."

She'd tried though, hadn't she? She thought she did, but the words just wouldn't tumble out of her mouth. She'd tried. She really had. She _knew_ that. How was her getting drunk last night an open invitation?

And then she remembered.

"Tyler," she whispered. "Did you use a condom last night?"

His eyes widened just enough to tell her everything she needed to know, and now it felt like the walls were closing in on her. She shook her head furiously, backing up until she hit the door behind her. She didn't know where her phone or her shoes or her purse were, but she didn't care right now. Right now, she just needed to get out of this room.

"Allie," Tyler held out a hand, approaching her slowly as if she was some wild animal in a cage. "Let's just talk about this for a second. I'm sorry you feel that way about last night, okay? I don't want you to feel like that. Let's just _talk_ about it. We're not breaking up. We can figure this out. And if I fucking remember right, _I_ was the one telling _you_ to slow down and not to get so goddamn drunk. It's not my fault you got so wasted you don't remember what happened. But you didn't say no. We need to be clear about that, Allie. You didn't fucking say no."

"I don't remember saying yes either," she whispered back. "And we absolutely _are_ breaking up. I don't ever want to see you again."

Despite his protests, she opened the door behind her and hurried down the stairs, ignoring the snickers and whispers behind her about her _walk of shame_. She didn't care about that. She just needed to get out of this house and into her own bed, where she could just pull the covers over her head and forget about it.

Her feet carried her all the way back to her own house, where she changed, washed her face, brushed her teeth, and then practically sprinted over to the student clinic on campus. The nurse there cocked an eyebrow when she asked for plan B, and then rattled off a series of questions that almost had Allie screaming at the top of her lungs:

"How many hours has it been since you had sex?"

"I don't know," Allie responded, swallowing hard at the way the nurse was looking at her now and the tight line creasing across her lips.

"How sure are you that you didn't use contraception?"

" _Pretty_ sure."

The nurse narrowed her eyes at Allie, and dropped her eyes back down to the sheet in front of her. "And when was your last period?"

Allie's shoulders sagged. "What difference does it make?"

"Please answer the question, Ms. Levy."

"I just had it last week."

The nurse nodded tersely, checking some more boxes and asking her a few more questions about any prescription drugs she might already be taking before turning on her heel and disappearing down a hallway to talk to the doctor on shift. It felt like it took forever, and it was certainly plenty of time for three girls she recognized from her psychology class to pass by the window and see her, hurriedly whispering as they walked past. But finally, that nurse came back and handed her a white paper bag.

"Here you go, Ms. Levy. I'd recommend taking the pill as soon as you can, but the instructions are straightforward and inside the bag if you need them."

"Okay, thanks."

The nurse just sent her a tight nod, that taut line still running across her thin lips. Allie shot her a quick smile, made an appointment to come back for an STD test, and then turned on her heel to head back to her house. But the second she made eye contact with Meg in their suite, she crumbled.

* * *

"Okay, Ms. Levy, thank you for coming in today," Officer Harding told her with a light nod. He gestured to Meg, who sat next to Allie with her hand wrapped tightly around Allie's. "And thank you for being here with your friend today. I know these things are never easy."

Allie nodded tightly, unable to believe that she was really sitting here in this police station. How had this become her life? It didn't help that her throat felt like sandpaper or that her head felt like someone was hitting her with a jackhammer over and over again. Or that she'd thrown up twice before coming into the station. But Meg hadn't taken no for an answer. At first, she'd been horrified that _she'd_ been the one to push Allie at Tyler when she'd brought her back inside the house, but Meg had just been trying to be a good friend. She'd thought Allie would be safe with her boyfriend. Well, _ex-_ boyfriend. And by all rights, she should'vebeen. She _should've_ been.

And after Allie had told her suitemate everything she remembered, and everything she _didn't_ remember, Meg hadn't let it go. She hadn't let Allie sweep it under the rug and try to pretend it didn't happen. _What he did to you was wrong,_ Meg had said, _and you need to tell somebody._

So, here she was. Telling somebody. She didn't really want to. Didn't really want to see him get in trouble, not like this. This would ruin his life, wouldn't it? She didn't really want that, not like this, not right now. He'd been her boyfriend, even if they were broken up now, and she didn't want him to get in any trouble because of her. And she _really_ didn't want to have to say it all out loud. Everyone would know then. Everyone would find out what he did. And right now, she just wanted to make it all go away and pretend it never happened.

But here she was. Telling somebody - that was the right thing to do now though, wasn't it? When something like _this_ happened to you, you were supposed to go to the cops and report it, right?

"Alright, Ms. Levy, why don't we just start from the beginning. So, you went to a party last night?"

"Right," she nodded. "It was a CEOs and office hoes party."

Officer Harding glanced up from his notes, his face an impassive line. "And which fraternity did you go to?"

Allie glanced at Meg nervously. Did he really need to know that? Would the frat get in trouble too? That was the _last_ thing she wanted to happen. She might as well not even go back to campus if that happened.

"Um, does it matter?"

He studied her carefully, before replying, "It does matter. But we can come back to that question later. Do you remember what time you got to the party?"

"Around 10:00, I think."

Of course, if she still had her phone, she could check what time she'd gotten that call from Opie and see how long the call had lasted to give Officer Harding a more concrete answer, but it was what it was.

"And what time did you have dinner last night? Did you have anything to eat before you went to the party?

Allie frowned a little in thought. "I think I ate at around six or seven. I went to the union with some of my sorority sisters. But I didn't eat anything right before we left for the party."

Officer Harding nodded easily, jotting some notes down on his pad. "Okay. When did you start drinking at the party?"

"Pretty much right away. There was some punch in a bowl - my boy...my _ex-_ boyfriend makes it for all the parties. It's just vodka, gin, whiskey - whatever they've got lying around in the house - and then he mixes it with juice and soda. It's pretty strong."

He nodded with a tight smile. "I can imagine. How many cups did you have?"

"I had…" she frowned, sifting through what she remembered to come up with the number. "Four cups, I think? Maybe five. I think I had some tequila too."

"Shots?"

"No," she shook her head. "I think I was drinking out of the bottle. I'm not quite sure how much I had though."

She winced a little as soon as those words left her mouth. She knew _exactly_ what that sounded like. But, at the same time, she didn't want to give him the wrong information either. If she really _wasn't_ sure about something that happened last night, it seemed like she needed to tell him that too, and be as honest as possible about what she remembered, and what she didn't.

"Alright, Ms. Levy. Do you mind telling me your height and weight? It's just to get a better gauge of what your intoxication level was last night."

"Sure," she nodded through her frown. "I'm 5 foot 3. About 115 pounds, I think."

Officer Harding nodded tightly again, jotting some more things down on that notepad. "So, let's walk through last night, step by step, okay? You said you were at a frat party - a CEOs and hoes party?"

"That's right."

"And were you dressed for the party too?"

Allie frowned, nodding slowly. "Yeah. I was. Why does that matter?"

"Just trying to get all the facts, Ms. Levy. I appreciate your honesty," Officer Harding told her easily. "So you came to the party with some friends and then met up with your boyfriend?"

" _Ex-_ boyfriend," Allie corrected him immediately. "We broke up last night, and then again this morning, I guess. And yes, I met up with him there. We got into a fight…I was still mad about something that had happened the night before, and we were fighting. I started drinking after that because I was just mad about the whole thing and I didn't really want to be at that party anyway."

"And at what point did you go upstairs with him?"

"I don't know," Allie shook her head. There were just too many foggy memories to sift through, and she just didn't want to be _wrong_ about any of this when she was talking to a police officer. "We were fighting some more, and I kept telling him to leave me alone and I kept trying to break up with him, but he wasn't leaving me alone. I remember pushing him away when he was trying to kiss me in the kitchen. I _know_ I did that."

"And then you continued to drink?"

She felt her chest tighten at that question. "I think I did."

Or maybe she didn't. She wasn't so sure anymore, but then she _did_ remember: "I know at some point I went outside, I think I was outside, and I called my brother before I went upstairs with Tyler."

Officer Harding dipped his head a little lower, watching her carefully. "Do you remember what time that was?"

"No."

"But this was after you fought with your ex-boyfriend? After you stopped drinking for the night?"

"I think so."

"And you were able to dial his number? Did you have any problems making the call at all?"

Allie's eyes narrowed a little. "I don't know. I think the screen was pretty blurry at that point, and I remember having to squint at my screen to find his name."

"But you were still able to make the call? Have a conversation with him at that point?"

Her lips parted, but her heart slid right into her stomach. She could see exactly where this was going now. "Yes, I could make the call. I was talking to him, but I wasn't really _saying_ anything, you know? I didn't even know where I was."

"But you were aware you were on the phone with your brother?"

Allie's eyebrows knitted together in a tight frown. "Yes, I was aware I was on the phone with my brother. I was _trying_ to call him, but I don't really know why. He basically lives on the other side of the state - it's not like he would've been able to come get me or anything."

"Okay," Officer Harding nodded tersely. "So after you got off the phone with your brother, you went upstairs with your ex-boyfriend? Can you tell me what you remember about that?"

"I think Meg came out to get me -"

"That's right," Meg added quickly. "I did. I think she was going to try to walk home by herself, so I grabbed her and brought her back inside."

"And then…" Allie trailed off, pushing back the tears that burned her eyes. "I don't remember much else. I think he might've carried me up the stairs. I don't remember walking up them, but I guess I might've. I'm not sure. He was putting something in my mouth and I -"

"What did he put in your mouth?" Officer Harding leaned in a little, his face an impassive mask.

Allie swallowed, knowing exactly how this was going to sound when it came out. "I mean I think it was his…his penis, it _had_ to have been. I don't know what else it could've been, but I…I don't…I think it was in my mouth."

"You _think_ it was in your mouth."

"Right," Allie exhaled heavily. "I'm sorry…I'm just trying to remember this right. He said I was all over him before we went upstairs, but I don't remember that. I really don't think I would've done that because I didn't want him anywhere near me. I just wanted him to leave me alone."

"But he said you were all over him? You don't have any recollection of what happened between the two of you before you went upstairs with him?"

Allie just shook her head. "He said I was trying to put my hand down his pants, but I don't remember doing that. I don't think I would've done that, not in front of other people. He was always trying to get me to have sex with him, and I never wanted to - I really don't think I would've done any of those things."

"Do you remember saying anything to him when you went upstairs with him?"

"No," she shook her head. "And I'm pretty sure he _carried_ me upstairs. I'm pretty sure we didn't say anything either. There was something hard in my mouth all of a sudden, and then I felt this pressure on the back of my head, and then I think his hands were under my skirt, and then I…"

"Did he penetrate you, Ms. Levy? This is very important now."

Tears pricked her eyes and burned her throat again, but she shoved that away. "I think so. It hurt. I remember it hurting. It hurt really bad."

"But do you remember him penetrating you though? Do you know _how_ he penetrated you and where?"

She huffed a little in frustration. "What do you mean _how_? Or where?"

And as Allie took in the sight of this stoic police officer sitting across from her, with his half-filled notepad, and his solemn eyes, she saw exactly what he saw.

She was just a stupid sorority girl who'd shown up to a frat party dressed like a slut, had too much to drink, had gotten into a fight with her boyfriend, and then had gotten herself into a situation she'd regretted in the morning. Not to mention the fact that she was _obviously_ sober enough, right before the penetration no less, to make a phone call. Even though she hadn't even known where she was at that point - hadn't even known if she was inside or outside. But that didn't matter because she'd been able to make a call, right? Why bother asking if she'd _wanted_ to go upstairs or if she'd _wanted_ that thing in her mouth in the first place? To this police officer, she was just a college girl who'd made a bad mistake after a night of drinking way too much for someone her height and weight, and now here she was, trying to get someone else in trouble for her mistake.

Then she just shook her head and held out a hand to stop this. "You know what? Let's just forget about this. I can tell you don't believe me and -"

Officer Harding sighed heavily and rubbed a hand across his face. "It's not that I don't believe you, Ms. Levy. That has nothing to do with it. You just have to understand - these kinds of cases are very difficult to prove, especially when there's alcohol involved and especially when you were already intimately involved with -"

"What does _that_ matter?" Allie shot back. "Just because he was my boyfriend doesn't mean that…you know what? I'm sorry I wasted your time. I'd like to leave now, please."

Officer Harding sighed one more time and held out one of his cards for her to take. She grabbed it out of his hand, hurrying to get out of her seat, and to the exit. Meg fell into step behind her, and they didn't say much as Meg drove her back to the Kappa house. What was there to say? She'd made a mistake going to the cops. That wasn't Meg's fault either - she'd just been doing what she thought was right, but Allie saw now that they were never really going to believe her, never really going to do anything about it.

And when they got back to the Kappa house, Allie was hit with yet another hard reality. Tyler was standing in their kitchen, murmuring into Kara's ear, and they were laughing, and joking about something that made her want to chuck the toaster at their heads.

"Hi, Allie," Kara waved to her in that syrupy-sweet voice. "Tyler was just bringing your purse and your phone by. Apparently, you left all that in his room last night, you little ho you."

Allie froze right in the middle of the kitchen, her eyes flicking right to her ex-boyfriend, who was watching her with a dark smile playing on his lips.

"Did you really dump your drink on Hayden Carter's head last night too?" Kara giggled, prompting Tyler to lift his eyebrows suggestively at her. "Man, you really had a _night_ last night, didn't you?"

"Get bent, Kara," Meg sneered at her before slicing her gaze to Tyler. "What the hell are you doing here anyway?"

"Just being a good guy," Tyler shrugged, smiling in a way that made Allie's blood boil. "Didn't want Allie to have to get a new phone or anything."

"How thoughtful of you," Meg shot back, and then waved him away. "Go on now. You did what you came here to do. Get out of here."

Allie's eyes fixed on her ex-boyfriend as he advanced on her, making her take a subtle step back, and then he put her phone and her purse in her hands.

"There," he told her with a grin. "Happy now?"

"No," Allie murmured. "I'm not. I never wanna see you again."

Tyler put a hand over his heart and jutted out his bottom lip in a fake pout. "Aw. That hurts my feelings, Allie. It's a good thing I ended this bullshit between us last night when you were acting like such a drunk bitch, not to mention a drunk _slut_ too."

Allie's lips parted in shock, her eyes flying to Kara, who was giggling back at her with a wide grin.

"That's not what happened, Ty, and you know it."

Tyler just lifted a shoulder. "Whatever you say. We both know who was wasted last night, and who wasn't. Besides, I got plenty of people in that house last night who can back me up that _you_ were the one acting like a drunk idiot, not me."

"Go right ahead," Allie shot back. "I don't care. Just leave me the hell alone."

He held up both hands as he sidestepped around her, stopping long enough to murmur in her ear, "No problem, babe. Now that I've had you, I don't really want seconds. I can't say it was all that much fun, you know what I mean?"

"Fuck you," she muttered under her breath, pushing past him to head for the stairs.

"Been there, done that," he called back to her.

She just flipped him off on her way to her room, not caring anymore if he was still in the house. At this point, she just wanted to take a shower and sleep for the next week or two. Maybe then, all this would be over and she could just get back to living her life, and focus on school.

By the time she got back to her room, there were five missed calls from Opie, and three text messages asking her to call him as soon as she could to let him know she was alright. She fired off a quick text message, telling him she'd left her phone behind the night before, and was just seeing his messages now. He immediately responded, thankful she was okay and that he'd call her later.

Right, she thought, later. This would all be over later. She just needed to close her eyes and forget about it.

* * *

But in the weeks that passed, closing her eyes and forgetting about it was easier said than done. Tyler had taken it upon himself to make sure every single person in his frat, and in the Kappa house, knew who'd broken up with who - even if _she_ knew the truth - and that Allie was the worst lay he'd ever had in his life. Anything she said couldn't be taken at face value, he'd reasoned, because she'd been drunk off her ass that night, and had been basically begging for it.

And since every single person in the Sigma and Kappa houses thought they knew the real story, that story got passed around campus like it was on fire.

So wherever she went, there it was. Someone whispering about her behind her back. Someone, or sometimes multiple someones, snickering at her for being such a stupid slut - just like good ol' mom and dad. What did Allie really know about what had happened that night anyway? She was too drunk, too belligerent, to even know which way was up. Of course she didn't remember it right. Of course she was just trying to save face on campus. Of course Tyler was the man, having bagged the porn star's stuck-up, drunk daughter and then dumped her the next morning after he got what he wanted.

And then there was the issue that, everywhere she went, there _he_ was. Allie just couldn't get away from him. Every time she turned around, he was there. Smirking at her. Laughing at her. High-fiving his frat and his football buddies when she walked by. _Daring_ her to try to do something about it.

And, finally, it just got to be too much. Every time she left the house, she wanted to cry. Or run and hide. She started skipping classes, especially the ones she was positive would put her right in his path. She started meeting with her professors during their office hours, when she knew Tyler was in class so she wouldn't run into him, or just emailing them for her assignments, and turning things in electronically.

There was no way she'd get anything less than a 4.0 this semester. And the semester after that. And then the one after that. Tyler could take his smear campaign and shove it right up his ass.

" _You know,_ " Meg had told her. _"You can go to the school too. I know it's not the same as talking to the cops, but at least there are things the school can do to try to get him to stop this shit. I mean, if you didn't have to see him on campus, if you could at least get a no-contact order or something like that…wouldn't that at least be a little better than how it is now?"_

She'd needed to think about it for a little while, but in the end, she just couldn't take the abuse any longer.

Yeah, it really _would_ be better if there was something at least the school could do to make this stop. To make him stop showing up everywhere she was. To make him stop spreading all these lies about her just to cover his own ass and his own reputation. If there was something else she could do, something the _school_ could do, then she wanted to at least try. It was better than just doing nothing, and if the cops weren't going to do anything, maybe some kind of punishment from the school would be enough. And while she didn't want to completely blow up his life - that was complicated and sticky and she hated it, but it was true - _something_ needed to happen to him. There had to be _some_ kind of consequence for what he'd done to her and had been doing ever since.

And so now, she found herself sitting in the Title IX Coordinator's office on campus, telling her the same story she'd told Officer Harding. At least this time, she could see that her odds of actually being believed were slightly better. The school had its own process for dealing with these kinds of things, the coordinator told her, and it was separate from the police because the school also had the benefit of being its own governing body, for the most part. This wasn't a criminal matter for the school, she'd said, it was a _campus_ matter, as the frat house was on campus and under campus rules, and so the school was within its right to investigate any potential policy violations.

The school's Title IX policy prohibited sexual misconduct on campus and gave the school the right to investigate any violations, as well as potential danger to others on campus. After careful review of her student handbook, she learned the school's policy was very clear on what was considered consent and what wasn't, specifically the notion that, while it could be given nonverbally, silence and impassivity was not consent, and that an individual could not consent to sexual intercourse if they were incapacitated.

Being drunk and being incapacitated, she'd learned through her research, were two very different beasts. A person could be drunk, and still technically consent. Maybe their faculties and their judgment were altered, but a drunk person would still be coherent enough for some types of basic decision-making, whether or not those were actually good decisions, like whether to have that next drink, or whether to get in a car and drive home.

Someone who was incapacitated, however, was not in a state where even the most basic decision-making processes could happen. A drunk person, while inebriated, would still have an idea of where they were, what time it was, if they were inside or outside, and have a general idea of who, or what, was around them. An incapacitated person wouldn't have the ability to do pretty much any of those things, and because of that, was in no position to consent to anything, let alone sex.

She'd been incapacitated that night. That much was clear to her. And Tyler had taken advantage of the situation and had taken what he'd wanted from her without caring whether she wanted it or not.

"You don't have to move forward with a formal complaint if you don't want to," the coordinator informed her. "It's completely your choice. An informal complaint will be considered an anonymous report; if you choose to file a formal complaint against Mr. Chadwick, then the school will start an official investigation into the incident."

"Okay," Allie replied shakily. "But what does that mean though? I mean, will I get in trouble if the school does an investigation and doesn't believe me?"

The coordinator tilted her head to the side, her face twisting sadly. "No, Allie. You won't get in any trouble for opening an investigation. We have an independent investigator who will conduct interviews - she'll start with you, and then she'll speak to Mr. Chadwick. Based on your interviews, she'll determine who else on campus might have useful information about the incident and everything that followed, and then she'll speak to them, if they're willing to cooperate. And just so you know, anyone our investigator interviews will get alcohol amnesty - so no one is going to get in trouble for being at that party either, okay? You can give the investigator as many names of people who might've seen something as you can, and know that you're not getting them in any trouble. After that, the investigator will write a report detailing her interviews and will prepare evidence and analysis on whether she believes Mr. Chadwick violated our school's policy. If he's found in violation, the report will go to our review board, who'll decide what to do from there. Until this process is complete, Allie, it's very important that you keep your distance from Mr. Chadwick, and that he does the same for you."

Within days, the investigator emailed her to set up an interview, and then she went, with Meg dutifully sitting next to her through the whole thing. While the investigator asked a lot of the same questions as Officer Harding initially had, like how much she weighed, how much she'd drank, and what she'd had to eat before she started drinking, she phrased them a little differently, and with slightly different context.

It was almost like she didn't automatically assume that Allie didn't really know what she was talking about, and that Allie might actually be telling the truth. She never asked Allie how she was dressed because that wasn't important. She never asked Allie if she _thought_ something had been in her mouth. She'd just accepted it as a fact because Allie said that was what she remembered.

And she actually asked questions like:

"Did he ask you if you wanted to go upstairs with him?"

"Did he ask you if he could remove your underwear or touch you underneath your skirt?"

"Did he ask for your consent to put his penis in your mouth?"

"Did he ask for your consent to penetrate you vaginally with his penis?"

The answer to all those questions, of course, was no. Even if he had asked, she hadn't been physically able to respond.

And two days after her interview with that investigator, Tyler appeared in the doorway of her suite at the Kappa house.

Allie reared back, her heart thundering in her chest, and she stumbled backward, frantically looking for her phone to call someone for help.

"You're not supposed to be here," Allie stammered. "You're not supposed to have any contact with me right now."

"No shit," Tyler drawled, rocking back on his heels a little as he appraised her with dark eyes. "You wanna know what I just did? I just had to sit through an interview with a fucking investigator from the school. Apparently, you can't just drop this shit and you just _had_ to make a big fucking deal about this, didn't you? But you know what? Don't worry - I told that investigator the truth. I told her you got sloppy drunk and that we had even sloppier sex that _you_ asked for. I told her that no one but your bitch of a roommate believes you and everyone in your whole house thinks you're lying. You wanna know why? Because it's the truth. It's the fucking truth, Allie. You just need to get that through your head. You're not gonna win here. I've got every single brother in my frat willing to back me up, and I've got every single sister in your sorority - except for that bitch - willing to do the same. Who do you think the school is going to believe, Allie? Hmm? It's your word against everyone else's."

"I don't care," Allie told him calmly, gripping her phone for dear life. "You wanna know why? Because _I_ know what happened in that room. _I_ know that _you_ had sex with me even though I didn't want to, and after I told you to leave me alone. And you wanna know something else? Just because I didn't say no doesn't fucking mean I was saying yes. I was too drunk to say anything, let alone yes or no. And from the little I do remember, I don't think I was even conscious for half of it, or _any_ of it. I had to _ask_ you if we'd had sex because I honestly wasn't sure when I woke up the next morning. You had to _carry_ me up the stairs. You held me down, Ty. I remember that. You _held me down_. And you know what that means? That means no. That fucking means no. How could I be in any state of mind to have sex like that? I tried to break up with you so many times that night - why the fuck would I want to have sex with you after that?"

Tyler's lips curled back into a snarl and he took a menacing step forward to shove her back against her dresser, pinning her body in place. "You listen to me, you fucking bitch. You think you've got any leverage here? You must be high as a kite if you think you're gonna come out on top. No one believes you, so guess what? It really doesn't matter what happened in that room, does it? Because no one will _ever_ believe a porn star's drunk slut of a daughter over someone like me - I've got the whole world at my feet, Allie. Don't make me bring it down around you because I will. I fucking _will_ if I have to."

She shrugged out of his grip and shoved him in the chest to put some space between them. "I don't care what you think you can do to me. I'm not scared of you."

That was a lie. She was terrified of him. She just wasn't about to let him see it.

"We both know what you did," Allie pressed on, pushing away the panic gripping her throat when he just advanced on her again. "You had sex with me when I was too drunk to consent. You wanna know what makes you? That makes you a fucking _rapist_."

Tyler barked out a harsh laugh, gripping her shoulders to shove her back against the dresser again. "Bullshit I raped you. It's not rape if you're fucking your girlfriend, and it's definitely not rape if your girlfriend is begging for it."

"You know that's not true."

"So what?" Tyler laughed. "What are you gonna do about it?"

"I'm not gonna do anything," Allie murmured lowly. "But my brother might. Don't make me give him a call and tell him what you did because I will. I fucking _will_ if I have to. And if I do, you know he's not gonna ride down here alone. He'll bring the whole club with him. Is that what you want?"

Tyler stilled at that, his hands dropping away from her shoulders as he stumbled away from her. He ran a shaky hand through his hair, keeping his eyes on the ground, her threat obviously having the desired effect.

"Just leave me alone, Tyler, and I won't call him. I don't want to see you. I don't want to talk to you. I just want you to leave me the hell alone. But if you don't listen to me, I _will_ call him."

He gave her one last shove into the dresser, his lips curled up into that ugly snarl, and then he stalked out of her room.

* * *

_Dear Ms. Levy,_

_Please consider receipt of this email as your acknowledgement of the university's findings on the Title IX matter of Levy vs. Chadwick. Upon analysis of the interviews of all parties involved, our independent investigator has ruled that Mr. Chadwick_ _ was _ _in violation of USC's Title IX policy, which states that consent to sexual intercourse cannot be given freely if an individual is incapacitated, and therefore, physically unable to consent._

_Our Title IX board has reviewed the investigator's report and all supplemental materials provided to the board, including copies of interviews and your formal complaint, and has ruled to instate a no-contact order for the reminder of the school year, as Mr. Chadwick has not been deemed a threat to others on campus. Mr. Chadwick has been instructed to stay at least 100 yards away from you on campus at all times, when physically possible, and should he enter within that 100 yard vicinity, he has been instructed that he must leave your vicinity and go elsewhere on campus._

_There are certain campus activities where this no-contact may not be physically feasible, such as certain athletic or academic events where seating is limited. However, should you believe Mr. Chadwick is violating this no-contact order, please contact the university immediately. Any questions or appeals to this ruling from either party must be received in writing within the next five business days._

_Sincerely,_

_Chandra Levenstein, Title IX Coordinator_

Allie reread the email, and then reread it again, just to make sure she was actually understanding what had just happened here. So the investigator _had_ believed her. That small victory was completely negated by everything else that followed.

The school didn't think he was a threat to anyone else on campus? His only punishment was that he had to stay away from her? Something she'd already managed to do herself by threatening to involve Opie and the rest of the club if she had to? There was barely a month left of the semester anyway.

How was that fucking justice? How was that fucking _fair_?

The more time she'd had to sit with it, the angrier she got. When she'd first started this process, she thought something like a no-contact order would be enough as long as he got _some_ kind of punishment. But now that she'd really had time and space to think about everything he'd done to her…this wasn't enough.

All he'd gotten was a slap on the wrist. Nothing that would go on his permanent record. Nothing that would have any real impact on the rest of his life whatsoever. Nothing that would really matter in the grand scheme of things on campus or in life.

This was complete bullshit.

And of course, less than three days later, she got notice that Tyler appealed the ruling.

Of course he'd appealed. Why wouldn't he do everything he could to try to run with the story that _he_ was the abused party that had been taken advantage of here? That she was just a bitter, drunk bitch who'd been pissed that he broke up with her right after banging her, and so now she was going around campus, running her mouth and crying to the university to try to save face and get some revenge.

But that was what vengeful bitches did, right? They made up a story and tried to take it as far as they could.

At least, that was what Tyler was telling everyone. And apparently, everyone believed him too. No one on campus, save for that investigator, seemed to really believe her.

Even Meg had asked her the day before, " _Allie, don't take this the wrong way, but are you really_ sure _it happened the way you said it did? I mean, I saw how drunk you were that night. Isn't it possible that you're just not remembering things right? That maybe all of this just got blown out of proportion?"_

And now, she found herself sitting in a bullshit code of conduct hearing with all her so-called Kappa _sisters_ staring back at her like she was some kind of leper.

"As you know," Kara informed the group sweetly, her eyes narrowing in on Allie like a velociraptor from _Jurassic Park._ "I've called this code of conduct hearing against our sister, Allie Levy, who stands accused of slander against our Sigma brother, Tyler Chadwick."

"I _stand accused_?" Allie laughed dryly. "I was under the impression this was a legit chapter meeting, not a witch trial."

"Well," Kara huffed, and then a wicked smile spread across her face. "Regardless, what do you have to say for yourself, Allie? Kappa code of conduct is clear that the kind of slander you're accused of - the far-reaching, reputation-ruining, life-altering kind - is grounds for expulsion. Every single member of this chapter has heard what you've been saying about Tyler. We all know that you made up those ridiculous allegations against him, that you made the school investigate it and waste everyone's time - I mean, it's clear, at least to me, that that investigator already had her mind made up and just didn't listen to what Tyler was telling her. The fact that she believed you - after all of us told her what we'd heard and what we believed…the fact that she _still_ believed you just tells me that was a bullshit investigation to begin with, and he didn't have a shot at getting any fair treatment from the school about this. They're lucky he's not trying to sue them right now. He almost lost his spot on the football team next year!"

"Aw," Allie cooed. "That must have been _really_ hard for him."

"I don't see why you're still being this way."

Allie cocked her head to the side. "Aren't you sleeping with him now?"

Kara's lips parted, but she just held her head high. "I'm pretty sure that's none of your business."

"And I'm supposed to believe _you're_ not the biased one here? Obviously, you've got reason to take him at his word - which means nothing, by the way - and you obviously have reason to have a vendetta against me and get me kicked out. Why would you want your new boy toy's ex-girlfriend around anyway? All I'm gonna do around here is spread lies about your precious Tyler and sully your _awesome_ new relationship. Which, I hope to God you never wake up in bed next to him after a night of getting black-out drunk with your skirt pushed up around your hips and your underwear suspiciously missing. Because no one will believe you when you try to tell them the truth."

Kara just plastered a fake smile on her face, tilting her head to the side with dangerously narrowed blue eyes. "Thank you, Allie. I appreciate your concern. Now, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Allie's eyebrows lifted, and she found herself looking around at every girl in the room, every girl who just couldn't make eye contact with her.

"What do I have to say for myself?" Allie leaned back in her chair, readying herself to unleash. "I think this meeting is _bullshit_. This code of conduct is _bullshit_. This fucking sorority is _bullshit._ You're all _bullshit_. You all had your minds made up about this before any of you sat down in these chairs. I don't know why we're even bothering, except so that when you file my expulsion papers with the national chapter, you can check the box that says you held a hearing, right? That you gave me due process and let me defend myself, right?"

Kara's mouth opened to respond, but Allie wasn't willing to give her another second of the floor.

"And just so you know, _Kara_ , there's a special place in hell reserved for people like you. And I hope you get your perfect life with your perfect husband in your perfect house with your perfect 2.1 kids. I really hope all _this_ was worth it for you. Because _this_ is the definition of narcissist, psychopathic, predatory, _rapist_ behavior - and you're more than welcome to him."

That smug smile on Kara's face slipped just a touch, but it was enough to spur her on.

"And as for the rest of this _bullshit_ , good fucking riddance to every single one of you. So much for sisterhood, right? Thanks for having my back and being on my side. I _really_ appreciated it."

Allie waited, looking around and waiting, but no one would make eye contact with her. "Well?" she threw her arms up in the air. "What are you waiting for? Just do it already."

"Does anyone have anything else to say before we vote?" Kara sneered. She looked around, scanning the room, and finally led the vote, which, of course, resulted in every single of her so-called sisters, even Meg, voting to expel her from the sorority.

Not like she was surprised.

And it wasn't until she went back up to her suite to start packing that the tears finally started to fall.

* * *

Allie rolled over in the bed, rubbing her eyes tiredly but sleep just wouldn't come. She wanted to sleep, she really did. It definitely didn't help that this hotel bed was lumpy and smelled a little funny, but she only had to wait one more night.

This was her last night anywhere near campus. The last night of the semester. She had one more final to take tomorrow and then she could leave. Her transfer to UCLA next year was already a done deal - the ink was dried, and she had a few apartment showings lined up for tomorrow afternoon that looked like they'd be nice and safe and away from people and away from campus.

Since she'd been unceremoniously kicked out of the Kappa house, she'd taken up residence at a hotel within a somewhat decent walking distance from campus, since she didn't have a car here and since pretty much anyone she might've asked for help on campus now refused to even so much as make eye contact with her. It was taking a pretty good chunk out of her savings, but she was too proud to ask her dad for help. Besides, he'd ask questions, and she wasn't about to answer them.

By the time everything was said and done, there'd only been three weeks left of the semester anyway. Which just made this whole thing sting that much more.

What was the point of even bothering with a no-contact order when there was just three weeks left of the semester? Especially when it seemed pretty clear to her that the no-contact order would expire with the new school year?

Her threat, as it turned out, had been plenty to keep him away from her, and she hadn't had to call Opie to rain down the whole world of hurt they both knew he, and the club, would bring. But that hadn't stopped the whispers. It hadn't stopped the laughter and the snickering behind her back when people thought she couldn't hear. Or maybe they did know she could hear, when she was standing in line for her coffee at the union's coffee shop, or studying for finals in the library, or grabbing a to-go sandwich on her way to her next class. They still whispered about her - the lying, psycho, porn star's daughter.

" _Apparently she tried to get Tyler kicked off the football team."_

" _Tyler said she was the worst lay he's ever had…no wonder she went all stage-five clinger on him and turned into a crazy bitch."_

" _She's probably just pissed he didn't film it and put it online for an easy payday."_

It didn't get any easier either. Every day she had to be on campus, it weighed on her, pulling her down like an anvil around her neck. Every whisper, every laugh, every snicker, every rumor, it never got any easier.

She rolled over again when her phone buzzed on the table next to the bed, and she swooped it up, smiling a little at the caller ID.

"Hey, Ope," she answered softly.

"Hey, Al!" Opie yelled through the phone, trying to make sure she could hear him above the noise coming through the other side. "Sorry if it's hard to hear me. Things are pretty crazy here tonight."

"Yeah, I can hear that," she laughed. "What's up, Ope? How's Donna doing?"

"Donna's good - she's good. I'm just checkin' in on ya, Al. Tomorrow's your last final, right?"

"Yep. The last one and then I'm outta here."

There was a pause on the other end, and then she heard his voice again. "When are you gonna be home next?"

"I'm not sure. I need some time to get settled and -"

Some muffled noises created some static in the background, and then there was another muffled shout, and finally, that achingly familiar voice was in her ear.

"Who the fuck is this?"

Her lips were curling into a smile before she could stop herself. "Hello, Jax."

"Aw, shit, darlin', I just _knew_ it was you."

"That's nice."

His chuckle warmed her, and she just leaned into it for now, closing her eyes and letting the sound of his voice envelop her. "And what are you up to on this fine evening?"

"I _was_ trying to get some sleep. My last final is tomorrow morning."

"Oh shit! My drunk ass is probably keepin' you up, huh?"

"Something like that, yeah," she smiled into the phone.

"Hey, Ope said you weren't comin' home for the summer. That true, darlin'?"

Allie sighed heavily, pushing her head back against her pillow in defeat. "I need to work and save up some money, and it just makes more sense to do that in LA since I'm gonna have an apartment there soon anyway."

And because after the last few weeks, the last place she wanted to be was home.

"Well, if ya need the money, I'm sure my mom could find somethin' for you to do at the shop. All you gotta do is ask," his words were pretty slurred again, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of that anyway.

"Working with Gemma all summer sounds terrifying. No offense."

Jax barked out a laugh. "You know what? I think you're right. Offer rescinded, darlin'. I guess you're on your own this summer."

Yeah. She really was on her own this summer. And every summer after that. And every semester after that too. And that was okay. She was better off that way anyway.

Besides, she really _did_ need to work. In transferring, she was also forfeiting her scholarship at USC, but that was fine. It was a small price to pay if it meant she never had to step foot on that campus or see anyone at that school ever again. She could handle the student loans, and the debt, if it meant she could get as far as from all that as possible.

"So, you looking for options three and four already tonight? I know you already had one and two."

Jax huffed out a laugh, and she could practically see him shaking his head and could picture that sexy smirk spreading across his devastatingly handsome face. "Well, I don't see how that's any of your business, but seein' as how ya asked so nicely…I haven't gotten around to that yet tonight. You know it's only a matter of time before some T and A comes my way."

"Gross."

His light chuckle bounced off the phone, and she found herself swallowing back the burning in her throat.

"Hey, darlin', you okay? You sound kinda sad tonight."

Now tears pricked her eyes and she squeezed them shut, willing the tears away. There was no way she was going to cry on the phone with _him_ , and definitely not while he was clearly drunk and would obviously have no memory of this in the morning. And now, she knew more than anything, that this needed to be the last time. If he ever grabbed the phone away from Opie again, she needed to just start hanging up on him and not let this go any further. Whose entertainment was this really for anyway? Just an interlude in between hook-ups for him? Something to pass the time while he worked on his next beer? He'd never cared about her before. Why would he start now?

It was time to grow up, and just focus on work and school and then getting into law school, and shove all the other noise away.

"Hey, Jax?"

"Yeah?"

There was something in his voice she couldn't quite place, but she chose to just ignore it. "I really need to try to get some sleep. I have to be up really early tomorrow morning for my final, and then I have to head to LA."

"Alright, darlin'. Sorry to bother you. You have a good night."

With that, the call abruptly ended, and Allie found herself pulling her phone away to stare at her screen, her chest burning at the abrupt kiss-off. She'd kinda done that to him, but she hadn't expected _him_ to basically hang up on _her_. The fact that she hadn't gotten the chance to be the first one to do that stung. Just another slap in the face to add to the list of all the other hard slaps of reality she'd gotten in the last few months.

Better to just shove that away, put it in a box, and put that box up on the highest shelf of her mind, along with everything else.

Just as another round of tears crashed against her, a knock sounded from the door on the other end of her room. For a moment, panic gripped her throat. It was almost 11:00 at night, and someone was knocking on her door? This wasn't exactly a five-star hotel - it wasn't the worst hotel in the area, but it definitely wasn't the nicest either. What was she supposed to do now?

She rolled over, staring at the door and trying to decide what she should do, and then she noticed that someone had shoved something under her door. Before she could stop herself, she slid out of bed and shuffled over to the door, bending down to pick up the envelope, and slipped her finger underneath the lip to open it.

Her fingers pulled out a simple polaroid picture out of the envelope, and her entire body stilled. Her blood ran cold in her veins, but her chest felt like it was on fire.

The scene in the photo was painfully familiar. She recognized that blue comforter and those blue pillows - she was pretty sure she'd know them anywhere and would never forget them as long as she lived. But it was the girl in the photo that she couldn't look away from. Familiar shoulder-length dark hair, even though it was strewn all over the pillow. Familiar grey pencil skirt that was pushed up around her hips, exposing the parts of her that only an intimate partner should ever be allowed to see, should the girl choose to let her partner see them. Familiar white button-up, exposing a lacy black bra that didn't do much for the little cleavage she had, but it was enough to see that smiley face drawn in magic marker right above where that small amount of cleavage started.

That girl was _her_.

Passed out in his bed. Head turned to the side, but exposing enough of her face for anyone to see that it really was _her_. She flipped the polaroid over, and felt her blood boil when she saw the two words scribbled on the back:

_See ya._

And in that moment, something snapped. There was no going back now as she ripped through her bags for her laptop. No stopping it as she snapped a photo of the polaroid on her phone and emailed the picture to herself.

This could not go unanswered. This could not be allowed to stand. He could not be allowed to get away with this. She'd have the last word, and everyone would fucking hear her. Everyone would know that she'd been right, all along, and all they'd had to do was listen to her.

They deserved this for refusing to see what was right in front of them.

The school deserved this for failing her so miserably.

 _He_ deserved this for blowing up her life and just walking away.

If tomorrow was her last day on campus, she was gonna burn the motherfucking place to the ground.

She pulled up an email on her laptop, addressing it to the dean of students at USC, and started typing…

_Dear Dean Sanderson,_

_On March 13, I attended a corporate suits and hoes party at the Sigma house on campus. There, I was illegally served alcohol, which consisted of a mixture of vodka, gin, whiskey, fruit punch, and orange soda. There were also various liquor bottles and beer kegs available for consumption in the kitchen. Later that night, I was raped by another student, Tyler Chadwick. He carried me up the stairs at Sigma house, took me into his room, forcibly put his penis in my mouth, and then penetrated my vagina with his penis before I lost consciousness. I did not consent. I did not give him permission to violate my body and my trust. And I did not lie when I went to the cops the next day, or when I reported the incident to the Title IX Coordinator two weeks later._

_This university failed to recognize that Tyler Chadwick_ is _in fact a danger on campus in its ruling in my Title IX case against him. He is a predator and a psychopath and a rapist, and every single female on campus is in danger every single second that he's allowed to be present on this campus. He was able to convince all of the Kappa and Sigma houses that I was the liar, and that I was making it up just because I'd gotten drunk. Like that was somehow an open invitation to rape me. Like what I was wearing, how much I'd drank, or how I was acting was the excuse he needed to justify his own criminal behavior. Like, because I'd gotten drunk and needed help walking up the stairs, I somehow deserved to get raped. Like I'd somehow reaped what I'd sowed._

_Female students should be able to attend parties on this campus, have fun, get drunk, and not get raped. This is not a concern many, if any, male students share with the female population on campus. Your Title IX policy is sound and fair, but the way this university upholds it is not._

_As you'll see on my transcript, I'm transferring at the end of this current semester. Tonight is my last night as a USC student, and Tyler Chadwick put the attached photo underneath my door about five minutes ago. The girl in that photo is me. I'm not sure if that was taken before or after he raped me, but it was taken that night, in his bed. The evidence could not be clearer. He is guilty, and he knows exactly what he's done to me._

_I trust you'll know what to do with this evidence. You should know that I plan to send a copy of this email, along with a copy of the attached photo, to every media outlet in the state, however, if you don't take the proper measures to deal with the danger you've allowed to remain on your campus._

_Thank you for your time,_

_Alexandra Levy_

* * *

_Present Day_

Allie dragged her eyes away from the carpet, finally letting herself glance at Jax, who'd sat rooted to the bed next to her during her entire story. The hand on her back had never faltered, and if anything, it had just moved up and down at various points, soothing her, comforting her, and then, at other points, when what she had to say was harder to hear, his fingers curled into the small of her back, pressing harder and more deeply like that was the only thing keeping him on this bed, and not sprinting into the parking lot.

And maybe it was.

But he'd never faltered. Not even once.

Now, he rubbed his mouth with his free hand, scrubbing those ringed fingers against his lips with trembling movements.

"I sent a version of that email to his frat's president on campus, and to Sigma's state and national chapters. I also sent it to the firm where he was supposed to intern that summer. And then I made copies of that email, with the picture on the bottom, and put them up around the school before I went to my last final the next day."

She laughed a little at the memory, and she noticed the sound sent Opie's tear-filled eyes slicing up from the spot they'd been fixed on in the carpet.

"Ironically enough, those emails had the desired effect - I heard he got kicked out of his frat and lost his internship that summer, and eventually had to transfer after the following semester, but the dean at USC sent me another email saying I was not welcome back on campus because of what I'd done. Apparently, you can't put up posters around the school calling a student a rapist, even if they _are_ a rapist, because that was considered retaliation for a Title IX ruling. And you certainly can't put up posters around the school with a graphic picture on it, even if _you're_ the one in the picture and even if it was taken without your consent, because that was considered distribution of lewd material on campus. Not like it mattered much, but I guess it was more a formality than anything. Anyway, I took my last final, packed up my hotel room, and then I hopped on a bus to LA later that day. So, that's it. That's the story."

Jax swallowed hard, his face slipping into an impassive mask and his eyes fixed onto the carpet in front of him. When he finally dragged his gaze away, his navy blue eyes softened and his shoulders sagged a little when their eyes connected. The warm hand on her back slid up to her shoulder, drawing her in, and wrapping around her to pull her against his chest. His lips found her hair as his strong arms enveloped her in their warmth and their protection.

"I'm so sorry, baby," he murmured in her hair. "I'm so fucking sorry."

What more could he really say? Nothing he could say or do would ever change what had happened, or how it had irrevocably changed the course of her life, or the way she'd been living it up until recently.

Jax seemed to pull her in even deeper, refusing to let up and let go, as he buried his face in her neck. Then, he abruptly pulled his face away so he could cup both hands around her face. His eyes were swimming with grief, his face twisted with devastation, and his jaw was set in a firm, hard line.

"Thank you for telling me," he whispered to her, and then his eyes flicked to Opie for just a second, before turning back to her. "For telling _us_."

Allie nodded into his hands. She was too emotionally drained to cry right now, but she could feel the tears on their way, ready to break through the surface when she finally had a moment alone to process what just happened and what she'd just said out loud.

"What's gonna happen now, Jax?"

His lips lifted at the corners as he brushed his thumb across her cheek. "I'm gonna get you home. I want a prospect to drive you - I don't want you drivin' yourself right now. I'll figure out how to get your car home to you. Don't worry about that, baby. And then…" he pushed out a rough sigh, his eyes lifting to Opie one more time before rumbling, "I gotta take this to the table. I know this is somethin' we wouldn't normally tell the club, at least not at the table, but this is different."

Of course it was different. Tyler - or Harrison, or whoever he was calling himself these days - had also somehow gotten himself hired by the club to work as their private investigator to find their late president's murderer. This actually _was_ club business too, because she knew better than anyone that any information he'd given the club, and that they'd given him money for, now needed to be scrutinized and analyzed within an inch of Tyler's life for the truth. Nothing he'd ever told them could be trusted now, and the club _did_ need to know why so they really understood what they were dealing with.

And while she died a little on the inside at the thought of Jax sitting down with the rest of the club and repeating what she'd just said, even if it was just the cliff notes version, there was just no getting around it. The club really did need to know, and she knew they would do something about it. She just couldn't let herself really think about what that might be just yet.

"I understand, Jax. I really do. It's okay."

Jax's lips lifted again, but his smile didn't reach those navy blue eyes. Then he leaned forward to press a light kiss onto her mouth. "Thank you, Allie."

His hands dropped to her lap, lifting both her hands to his mouth so he could brush his lips against her knuckles. Then he rose to his feet from the bed, pulling her along with him, and wrapping both arms around her again. He only let up when Opie moved next to them and abruptly pulled her out of Jax's arms, so he could envelop her in a big bear hug, pressing her against his chest and kissing the top of her head.

"I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say here," Opie murmured into her hair. "I don't wanna say the wrong thing, Al."

"It's okay, Ope."

"But _you_ did everything right, okay?" Opie dipped down a little so he could look her in the eye as he spoke. "You didn't do anything wrong. Not a thing."

She nodded, smiling through the burning in her throat as Opie stepped back and as Jax wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her against him and moving his lips back to her hair again.

"Come on, baby. Let's get you home."

She let him lead her back out into the same hallway they'd just come down before, although she had no idea how much time had passed since they'd walked down to his dorm. It could've been hours for all she knew, and now, as they moved out onto the clubhouse's main floor, with Jax's arm wrapped around her waist, and Opie right on their heels, they found every other club member - including the ones who'd been out on that run - standing around the bar, and waiting with bated breath.

All eyes were on them as Jax led her toward the double doors. Some of them were watching with sympathetic eyes. Others looked confused. A few of them looked angry, although not necessarily angry at _her,_ and there were one or two that seemed a little indifferent too, like they just weren't quite sure what to make of it all.

But none of that really mattered because Jax turned his head as he passed the bar, and growled, "Everyone in the chapel. _Now_."

Opie stayed behind to help corral the rest of the club inside the chapel for church, and Jax pushed through the double doors, holding the door open for her to pass through first, keeping one hand firmly on the small of her back. It was almost as if he couldn't let himself disconnect from her completely, like some part of him just needed to be touching her. And that was okay, because she needed his touch more than anything right now too.

A prospect jogged after them, probably sent out to the parking lot by Opie, and Jax whipped his head around to face him.

"Give us some fucking privacy, prospect," he barked. "I'll call you over when I'm ready for you."

The poor guy skidded right in his tracks, freezing in that spot in the parking lot where he'd probably stay until Jax called for him.

Jax silently led her over to one of T-M's white trucks and stopped her right in front of the passenger side door. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure that prospect really was giving them some privacy, and then when he turned back to face her, he hauled her against his chest, capturing her lips with his mouth. He kissed her hungrily, almost desperately, until he had to pull away, inhaling shakily and pinching the bridge of his nose to hide the tears in his eyes from her.

When he tore his eyes away from the pavement, they were swimming with tears and he squeezed his eyes shut again, shaking his head at himself.

"I'm sorry, baby," he whispered hoarsely. "I'm just so _fucking_ sorry."

He pinched the bridge of his nose again, inhaling roughly through his nose, and then he pulled the passenger side door open for her with his free hand. His gaze shifted to the other side of the parking lot, and then he lifted a hand to signal to the prospect waiting for direction.

"Alright, prospect. Let's go."

Jax kept his hands on her waist to help her inside the truck, and leaned an arm against the door as his swimming eyes found her again. His lips lifted at the corners, and his head tilted to the side as he appraised her with soft eyes.

"I love you," he whispered, his eyes never leaving hers. "I really _fucking_ love you."

"I love you too," she whispered back, feeling that burning back in her throat but she pushed it down again. She didn't want him to see her cry. He'd already had to see and hear enough for today. Maybe later, when they were at home, and when they could talk a little more, maybe she could cry then. But not yet.

His attention shifted back to the prospect, who was sliding into the driver's seat next to her and turned the key in the engine.

"Get my old lady home safe, a'ight?" Jax told him in a stern voice. "We'll be in church when you get back, but come find me as soon as we're out."

The prospect nodded earnestly. "Sure thing, prez."

Jax leaned inside the truck to give her a quick kiss, and when he pulled away, another soft smile played on his lips. "I'll get home to you as soon as I can."

"Okay, Jax."

He shot her one more smile before shutting the passenger side door and pounding the top of the truck with his fist, signaling to the prospect to get going. As the prospect wordlessly backed them out into the parking lot, Allie started to feel a little out of her body, like she'd somehow floated up to the top of the truck's ceiling, and was watching herself sit there stiffly and robotically. And then, as if it hit her all at once, cathartic tears began to slip down her cheeks.

Allie looked over her shoulder just once and found Jax standing in the middle of the parking lot, his lips already wrapped around a cigarette. He shoved one hand in his front pocket as he watched the truck drive away, and it was in _that_ moment, when he thought they were too far away for her to really see, that his true emotions flickered across his handsome face.

The dangerous darkness she saw there probably should've scared her, but it didn't. There was something lethal simmering in his features too - something that looked just as violent as it was menacing. She'd seen malice and murder on his face before, but not quite like this.

This was a seething, quiet kind of menace.

A thoughtful and coiled kind of menace - the most dangerous kind.

And as he flicked some ash onto the pavement and brought the cigarette back to his lips that feral line ticking down his jaw didn't dissipate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - I should note here, just to make sure it's clear, that although I work with Title IX investigations as part of my "real-life job," nothing in this chapter was taken directly from a case I've worked on. It is, however, basically the kind of thing we see all the time, and is unfortunately very, very common on college campuses (kinda makes you never want to send your kids to college, right?). While there are certainly cases where there's more grey area in terms of consent, I purposely chose a scenario where it's clear that Allie did not, and could not, consent that night so there was no room for debate on that.
> 
> This was rough to write, as I'm sure it was to read, and this chapter (as well as the two that follow it) is also the reason I had to take a mental break from this story and start writing Witness Protection. The next chapter will rehash some of this in a way (just a warning for anyone who might be triggered) because Jax will have to take this information to the table, and it will also see him try to process his emotions about it too.
> 
> This chapter was in the works for so long, and it's also been so long since I've wrote it (I wrote this in October!), but I'm really proud of the work and the time that went into not just this chapter, but everything leading up to it as well. I hope this chapter also sheds new light on Allie and why she is the way she is, as well as explains the hints I've dropped over the last 28 chapters or so - if you've had questions about some of her personality ticks and behavior, I hope her story answers most of those questions for you, as it will for Jax.
> 
> I know this was a tough chapter for everything, but please let me know your thoughts! Your feedback is so appreciated, especially with a chapter like this. As always, thank you for reading and sticking with it!


	30. Chapter 30

Jax watched the truck driving his old lady away until it disappeared from view. He flicked some ash from his cigarette, brought it back to his lips, and took a long pull to get some more nicotine coursing through him.

Right about now, he was certain of three things.

He'd known Allie was strong. He'd known Allie was brave. But he'd never known just _how_ forged in fire she really was until today. His old lady was made of titanium. And a fucking phoenix rising from the ashes. He was certain of that.

He'd known he loved her before today. But after today, those feelings he had for her, the love, the commitment, the passion, the adoration, the devotion... those feelings were now woven through the very fabric of his being. Threaded through every vein, every nerve, every inch. There was no part of him that wasn't wholly and completely hers. He was certain of that.

And the third thing he was certain of?

That motherfucker was a dead man walking.

He flicked his spent cherry through the air, his eyes fixed on the spot where that truck had disappeared down the road. Then he gave himself a moment to suck in a deep breath through his nose, slowly pushing it out through his nostrils. It wasn't enough - nothing would _ever_ really be enough, but that breath gave him a second of calm. Of peace. And then, a moment later, that dark current he'd been wading in since the moment he got a good look at Allie's face in the parking lot…that current just kept rising and rising until it slipped over his head.

With one last look out at the empty street, he dug into his cut for his cigarettes again and slid one out of the pack with trembling fingers. His fingertips were still shaking as he fumbled with the trigger on his lighter, but he finally got the thing lit and took a few puffs as he turned on his heel to head back inside the clubhouse.

When he pushed through the double doors, leaving a long trail of smoke in his wake, his VP was the only one waiting for him on the main floor.

Opie tipped his chin to him, his hands shoved tightly into his front pockets, and he rocked back on his heels as Jax stalked toward him.

"You need a minute?"

"Nah," Jax jerked his head from side to side, moving to brush past his VP to head inside the chapel, when a hand pushed against his chest to stop him in his tracks.

"Brother," Opie told him in a low voice. "I think maybe we should take a minute before we go to the table with this."

Jax just lifted a shoulder. "Everyone's waitin', right? We might as well get this shit over with."

"They can wait another minute, brother."

He paused there, his eyes flicking back up to find his VP's gaze. What he saw in Opie's eyes had to mirror his own - rage, devastation, grief, murder. They were all here for this fucking party.

"Where is your head at with all this?" Opie eyed him carefully.

Jax's eyebrows shot high into his forehead, and he had to take a step back. "Where's my head at? Where do you _think_ it's at? Where is _your_ head at?"

Opie's hands shot up into the air in defense, but when Jax took that opening to take another step toward the chapel, his VP's hands reached out to push him back.

"Listen, Jax, before we go to the table, I just wanna be clear about one thing, alright?"

Jax waited, his eyebrows lifting expectantly. His heart thundered in his chest in a staccato rhythm, and he figured that probably wasn't going to let up anytime soon. He'd probably be living in this rhythm, in this current, for the rest of the foreseeable future.

"We're gonna vote, right? You can't take anything onto your shoulders, or into your own hands, without a vote. You gotta let the table decide too."

He nodded slowly, pushing out a tense exhale. He knew that. And if he'd ever had any doubts he'd made the wrong choice in his VP pick, which he didn't, those doubts were nonexistent now. Even as the aftershocks still rippled through them, Opie was still level-headed. Still thinking clearly. Jax knew he needed to do the same.

"I got that, Ope," Jax nodded to him. "Whatever happens…I'm gonna do right by her. I'm gonna fucking _make_ this right for her."

Opie nodded tightly, and then he stepped aside. There was really nothing more to say. The chapel was waiting, the club was waiting, and he was going to have to walk in there and say things he never, in a million fucking years, ever thought he'd have to say. But this was the reality of it, and there was just no getting around it.

As much as he wanted to keep most of these details as close to the chest as possible, if only for Allie's privacy, that just wasn't possible. The club needed to know. And they needed to know now so they could take action _now_ before shit got worse.

So, he pushed through the chapel's doors, with his VP right on his heels, and his heart skidded right into his stomach at the sight of all his brothers, seated around the table, waiting for them. And in that moment, he knew they would have his back wherever church went today. Anything he wanted to do - he had a feeling they'd be with him on this one.

All eyes were on him as he sauntered over to the head of the table and took his seat, with Opie sinking down into his own seat. No one made a sound. No one even seemed to move as he gripped the gavel in his right hand so tightly his knuckles turned white. He tipped his head back to blow out a steady stream of smoke, and then brought his cigarette back to his lips to give himself one more moment.

Because there'd be a before and an after. In this moment, the before, he wanted to live in that for one more second. Because _after_ …after was gonna be a hard road to travel down for a long time.

Jax sucked in one more breath with his eyes fixed on the table, and as he flicked some ash into the ashtray next to him, his fingertips still trembling around his cigarette, he drew his gaze up and out to find every single one of his brothers waiting patiently, some of them with mounting dread on their faces.

"I don't really know where to start here," Jax began hoarsely. "This morning, I woke up thinkin' our PI was working for us the way he said he's been working for us and that he was gonna deliver some intel today. I also woke up this morning knowing somethin' _bad_ had happened to my old lady when she was in college - I just didn't know the specifics until now. And now, I feel like my whole fucking world just came crashing down around me."

He drew his cigarette back up to his lips, unable to meet any of their eyes at that moment. Tears stung his eyes and burned the back of his throat. But he could do this. He could get through it. For her. Always for her.

So, he swallowed hard, and barreled through it.

"We know him as Tyler Harrison, but Allie knew him in college as Tyler Chadwick. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Chadwick is probably his _real_ name, but that's the least of our problems right now. Allie…" he sucked in another breath and swallowed tightly. "She dated him for a few months. She had to have been, what, Ope - 19, 20, at the time?"

Opie nodded grimly. "Nineteen, I think."

Jax nodded again, more to himself than anything, and drew one of his hands underneath the table to make a tight fist. He just couldn't stop the way his hands were shaking, and he just didn't want anyone else to see that right now. He had no idea how he was going to get these next set of words out - the fact that he had to say them out loud, that they were _true_ …he almost had to shove out of his chair and find a place to vomit.

And then he just made himself do it. If _she_ could do it, so could he.

"They were at a party," he murmured, and his eyes flicked up from the table, finding Bobby almost immediately, and finding tears already swimming in his eyes. "She was tryin' to end it with him. It was pretty clear to her, and it is to me, that all Harrison was after was banging a porn star's daughter, and she wasn't givin' him what he wanted. She actually ended things with him a few times at the party, but he didn't listen to her. She got good and drunk too - with how much she drank that night, I'm not quite sure how she was upright for as long as she was. When he carried her up the stairs, she didn't even know where she was. Didn't know who was carrying her or how she was getting there. She'd tried to call Ope a few minutes before and couldn't tell him if she was in the house or standing outside."

"I remember that now," Opie told the table in a desperate whisper. "I _remember_ talkin' to her that night. I remember being worried as shit because she didn't sound like herself, and then her roommate took the phone and told me she was gonna take care of her and try to find her boyfriend. And I figured, sure, right? If she's with her boyfriend, she'll be fine. She texted me the next morning and said everything was fine, and I just never really thought about it again after that because I thought everything was _fine_."

Jax scrubbed his free hand across his mouth, his movements still shaky and a little too unstable for his liking right now. Ope wasn't the only one in this room Allie had talked to that night, and unlike Ope, he really didn't have any memory of that conversation. He knew the only reason he would've grabbed the phone away from Opie like that was because he was drunk, and because of that liquid courage, he'd acted on how much he'd missed seeing her every day at school. He'd gone from getting glimpses of her a few times a day to having to go completely cold turkey, and to say it had not sat well with him was an understatement. But he'd talked to her that night too, and what the hell had he even been talking to her about? Nothing important, that was for damn sure. Nothing that would've helped her - in fact, it seemed a little like the conversation he'd had with her had actually contributed to the way that night played out.

And he wished, with everything he had, that he'd gotten his head out of his ass about her so much sooner. Maybe, if things had been different, she would've been with _him_ that night instead of on her own at that party at that fucking frat house.

Life had had other plans for them, but she was with him now. That was all that really mattered anyway.

And now, there was just no getting around the inevitable. He had to find a way to say it, even if saying the words would tear him apart.

"So Harrison carried Allie up the stairs, when she was too drunk to get up them herself," Jax pushed out. He didn't even recognize the sound of his own voice right now. "He took her into his room, pushed her down on the bed, forced his dick in her mouth, and then when he was done with that, he held her face down on the bed, and he raped her. I think she lost consciousness at that point, and he was _still_ raping her."

He brought a trembling fist up to his mouth and then found himself pinching the bridge of his nose to bite back some tears. They'd come later, and that was fine. But when his eyes flew open again, he found some watery gazes looking back at him too. Bobby wiped a tear from his cheek. Juice's eyes were shining with them from across the table. Even Tig looked like he was on the verge of something an awful lot like that. Chibs too. Then his eyes landed on Piney, and found the old man watching him stoically, his eyebrows knitted into a disturbed line in his forehead.

"She woke up the next morning in bed with him and had to _ask_ him if they'd had sex, and he ran a game on her - tried to get her to think she just wasn't remembering things right, that she was all over him at the party when she really wasn't, that she was too drunk to really know what happened anyway, and if she was too drunk? Then it was her fault. She wasn't saying no? Then he wasn't the one who'd done anything wrong. That fucking asshole didn't even bother to use a condom, so she had to go take care of _that_ bullshit too."

Shit.

He hadn't meant to share that last part. That was too personal, too private, and more than the club really needed to know. But maybe in the grand scheme of things, it was better that they knew all those details, even the really dark and personal ones, so they really understood the depth of what Harrison had done to her.

Jax furiously mashed his spent bud in the ashtray, and immediately got to work on lighting up another cigarette, but his shaking hands just couldn't get the trigger on his lighter to go. Some movement from his right caught his attention, and he turned his head to see Tig reaching out with a lighter in his hand.

Tig tipped his chin to him with solemn eyes, "Here, bro. I got it."

Jax huffed out a laugh, but it was really just a cover to hide the fact that he almost broke down into tears right there, right then, at the table, in front of all of them. He took a moment to lean in to the open flame Tig held out to him, and then gave himself another moment to get a few pulls from that cigarette and find the resolve to get through this. Maybe if he could borrow some of Allie's strength for the next few minutes, he'd be able to power through it. He'd give that strength back to her, of course - she'd earned it and she deserved it. But it was that thought that found him lifting his eyes back to the table to finish this.

"She went to the cops, but that cop she talked to might as well have just told her he didn't believe her because she'd been drunk and dressed like she was going to a frat party. And then Harrison got the whole campus to believe his lie - that she was too drunk to remember and was just making it all up. Word spread, and I think just about every friend she had on that campus went the other way. And then that fucker was _stalking_ her, showing up everywhere she was and laughin' at her, high-fivin' his friends for hittin' and quittin' the porn star's daughter. She _did_ get help - she talked to an investigator that believed her, but the school did jackshit about it and just gave him a no-contact order for the rest of the school year. The only reason he actually _did_ leave her alone was because she threatened him with the club."

He dropped that last part on the table and gave it a moment to sink in. Harrison, or whatever the fuck his name was, had known exactly who Allie's brother was and had known exactly what kind of club he was a member of. And if Jax had to bet, which he was going to, he'd bet that Harrison had known exactly _which_ club Allie's brother was a member of too.

"Fucking sorority kicked her out for spreading rumors -"

Bobby huffed out a bitter laugh and scrubbed his face with his hands. " _That's_ why she got kicked out? Jesus fucking Christ…" he squeezed his eyes shut and scrubbed his face again before shooting Jax a grim smile. "She told me she got kicked out and we had this back and forth about it - it was like a joke…me tryin' to guess why those Barbies kicked her out and her sayin' I'd never guess it…Jesus Christ."

He had to smile at that, even though it hurt, maybe _because_ it hurt. Of course she'd done that. Of course she'd tried to find the humor in a situation where there was no humor to be found. Of course she'd walked through fire and come out the other side.

"Well," Jax huffed out a bitter laugh. "That's what happened. She had three weeks left of the semester and had to live out of a fucking hotel because she had nowhere else to go. Her last night there, that motherfucker put a picture under her door from that night - he knew exactly what he did, and the fact that he took a _picture_ …a fucking _picture_ , like it was a goddamn trophy or somethin'..."

He gave himself another moment so he didn't take that ashtray in front of him and send it flying through the air. He was almost there, right at the end.

"So Allie took that picture and sent it to the dean of students, along with an email saying exactly what that motherfucker did to her and how he'd gotten away with it, and then she sent it to the state and national chapters of his frat, and put that picture and that email up all around campus before she blew out of there and never looked back."

A few chuckles bit through the silence in the room, and he figured that was fair. She'd deserved that victory over him - it had been hardwon and well-earned, even if it had been bittersweet and even if it hadn't lasted. She'd gotten the last word, just like she always did, and he'd never been prouder.

"He got kicked out of his frat, lost his internship, had to transfer, but that was it. I'm guessing things got bad enough for him that he started using a different name, but he had to get that PI training and experience from somewhere, and when I think about the envelopes of cash we've been handin' him and how many other people he's probably workin' for right now…he's clearly not suffering either."

Jax blew out a heavy sigh, feeling relieved and spent all at the same time. His eyes lifted to the table, now that this part was finally, mercifully over. Now, they could move on to the next part. And so he waited, giving each of them a moment to sit with what he'd just had to tell them. Saying it out loud hadn't been quite as bad as having to hear _her_ say it out loud, but it had been pretty fucking close.

And in the end, it was Piney who spoke first.

"Well," Piney shook his head, running a hand over his eyes as he spoke. "I'm sorry that happened to your girl, prez. I really am. That's…" he trailed off, running a hand over his eyes again, "that's some heavy fuckin' shit."

Jax's eyes flicked to each brother at the table, saw Bobby wiping away another tear, watched Juice fold his hands tightly on top of the table with his jaw clenched tight and Tig bring a cigarette to his mouth with thoughtful rage, and then his gaze drifted back to his VP, who nodded to him tightly.

He tipped his chin to Juice, tapping his still trembling fingertips against the table in thought. "What happened when you brought him the cash before?"

Juice just lifted a shoulder. "I told him somethin' came up and that you didn't wanna make him wait, so you sent me out to make the exchange. He didn't seem to care that I wasn't bringing him inside the clubhouse. Didn't seem to have any idea that anything was wrong inside the clubhouse either. He gave me the intel, and I gave him the cash. He told me he thinks he's almost got Darby pinned down and needs a little more time to get his location."

Jax nodded tightly, his mind working over those details and sifting them through what he already knew to be true about their private investigator. "And the intel? What was it?"

Juice pushed out a rough sigh, leaning forward against the table now. "He said he tailed Darby and a handler to a safe house about three hours north of town, but he thinks it's possible Darby's been moved again. I don't know - it seemed legit at the time, but who really knows now, right? I don't think we can take anything he's ever told us and any intel he's ever given us at face value."

And that was the crux of it. They'd been dealing with a wolf in sheep's clothing this whole time. Just the thought of how many times he'd spoken to that fucker…how many times he'd spoken to that fucker on the phone when Allie was within earshot…it had him shaking with rage.

"I mean," Tig lifted his hands in exasperation. "What are the odds the bastard even went to Mexico in the first place? That Darby was ever really _there_ in the first place? That Darby's even fuckin' _alive_?"

"And all that cartel shit too," Happy shook his head. "I gotta think it's likely he had us all worked up for nothin' and just to keep us handin' over the cash."

Juice nodded tightly. "He gave us all his travel expenses to prove the time he said he spent in Mexico, but that shit can be doctored. He probably figured we would just trust that he was tellin' us the truth, and he was right."

"I gotta feeling he's been runnin' around this whole time," Piney huffed angrily, "givin' us whatever line we needed to hear just so he could keep takin' our cash. I gotta feeling any intel he's ever given us has been complete horseshit."

"We just took his word fer it," Chibs shook his head, tapping his fist to the table. "Trusted the son of a bitch because…who would do that? And I just don't see what his game is here. What kinda dumb basterd would pull this shit with us like that? Knowin' who we are? Knowin' what we do?"

Jax blew out a long stream of smoke, his eyes rooted to the table as he spoke. "I gotta think, a guy like that, he had to have been keepin' tabs on her, right? In his mind, he probably feels like she cost him whatever future he'd had planned when they were in school, especially if he had to change his name. And, I know we were payin' him well, but it's not like doing PI work for an MC is exactly on the up and up anyway. He probably thinks she ruined his life. Of course he knew where she was, what she was doin' - if I were him, I'd probably keep tabs on her too."

"He obviously knew about me," Opie nodded tightly. "Knew who we were back then. But, I don't know, I'm not so sure what he's been after this whole time - us or just her, or maybe both. I mean, it's not like he could've known Allie was working for us when we first met with him because we hadn't even hired her yet."

"He might've known we had a deal in the works with her dad at the time though. And, to be honest, I just don't see a way that guy _didn't_ know she's been workin' for her dad all these years. It's not like Jimmy would be hard to keep tabs on either," Juice threw out with a shrug, and then he lifted his eyebrows at Jax. "You think he's got any idea about you and her?"

Jax blew out a heavy breath and shook his head. "Hard to say. If he does, that would mean he's been tailing her around town too, and that makes him even stupider than we thought and that makes all this shit even worse. That being said, he obviously knew where she was today before she came to the clubhouse. He called me and said some bullshit line about somethin' comin' up with another client and that he might be late for our meeting today. And then when she saw him at the bakery she was at, she hightailed outta there and came to the clubhouse. And then after _that_ , his schedule magically cleared up and he was able to make it to our meeting on time."

And now, the more he thought about it - what the hell had Harrison even been planning? What would he have done if Allie hadn't left when she did? Had he just randomly seen her at that bakery on his way into Charming, saw an opportunity, and took it? Or had he been tailing her? Still, in order for any of that to be true, Harrison would've had to have at least an idea of where she was living and what kind of car she drove in order for a run-in like that to even be a possibility.

"This fuckin' guy," Bobby huffed. "You know, I'd say I hope for his sake that he really _doesn't_ know Allie is an old lady now and specifically _whose_ old lady she is because…if he knows all that and he's _still_ runnin' a con on us this way…Jesus, how fuckin' stupid do you have to be? But then again, I don't give a shit what he knows and what he doesn't know."

"You know," Opie laughed bitterly, shaking his head. "I'd bet my left nut right now that the son of a bitch thought he'd fuck with us just because he thought he could. I bet he got that call from Juice, figured out pretty quickly which club and which charter he was connected to, and saw an opportunity. I'd also be willin' to bet that at least half of what he gave us was legit, and the other half was bullshit, just to keep us on the line. And I bet he still thinks he can get out without a scratch as long as he delivers what we want in the end."

Jax nodded absentmindedly, his mind wading through everything his VP had just thrown out. There was about a 90 percent chance that Opie was 100 percent right about all that. And if that was the case, Harrison had sealed his fate the second he'd rolled up into T-M's parking lot and shook Jax's hand.

"So if all that's true," Piney called out from his end of the table. "Where does that leave us with Darby? And Clay?"

Jax's eyes flickered around the table, taking in all their reactions all at once. And they all seemed to know what he already did, and had known for a long time.

"I don't think this leaves us anywhere with Darby," Jax offered quietly. "I think we might have to accept that we may never find him. Sure, we can find another PI, we can keep looking, we can keep throwin' money at it, but at the end of the day, brothers, I think we might just be chasing our tails."

The table fell into a lull then, each member sitting stiffly in their chairs, chewing on that, processing that, until he saw some tight nods round the table and until Juice's voice called out:

"So what do you wanna do, prez?"

Jax hesitated, giving himself a moment to just sit with that question and let it simmer. He knew his answer already, and he'd known that answer the second he saw the look on Allie's face when that black Trans Am pulled into T-M's lot.

"What I wanna do," Jax murmured. "We're gonna need to vote on it."

That was really all that had to be said. His eyes lifted to his brothers again, and found them watching him carefully, with understanding and a little bit of sympathy there too. Tig nodded to him tersely. So did Juice, and Bobby, and Chibs. Even Piney and Happy gave him the okay for what needed to happen next.

"I know we said we were only gonna take one more body," Opie told the table, his voice filled with a lethal quiet that Jax had never heard before. "And I'm not gonna lie, I really struggled with that after what happened to Lyla - I wanted to renege on that so bad I could fuckin' taste it, but I understood then, and I still do, that what happened to Lyla wasn't enough for us to make an exception. But this…I think this _is_ that exception. If odds are we're not gonna nail Darby, I'm willin' to take Harrison in exchange. After what he did to this club, to my _sister_ …he doesn't deserve the air in his lungs right now."

"He's gotta come back to the clubhouse at least one more time to tell us if and where Darby was moved, provided that's even true of course," Juice lifted a shoulder.

Right, Jax nodded. That would be the easiest way to catch him off-guard. Make him feel like the job was almost, if not completely, over, like he'd done what they'd asked him to do and now he could walk away with their money and feel like he'd gotten some kind of sick victory over them, and Allie too. And then he remembered…and pounded his fist furiously into the table.

"Fuck!" he spat out, pounding his fist into the table one more time. "I shouldn't have let that motherfucker leave the goddamn parking lot today. The _fuck_ was I thinking..."

"Bro," Juice just shook his head grimly. "I saw her face. She was scared and she was freaked out and she was askin' you to make him go away. You didn't do anything wrong. You just did what she was askin' you to do."

Bobby nodded sadly. "He's right, prez. Don't beat yourself up about that."

Jax shot them both a weak grin. While he was grateful for their understanding, he'd known he would regret it the second he gave Juice that envelope of cash and told him to get Harrison off their property. But in that moment, all he could see was her, and the fear and the shock and the anger gripping her beautiful features like blocks of ice. His first instinct had been to take care of her, to be there for her, and he didn't regret _that_.

"Look," Jax flicked some ash from his cigarette into the ashtray as he spoke. "I know what I'm askin' here if we vote on this right now. I know what we've already decided, what we've all already agreed to. And just to be clear, we don't _have_ to vote today. I think we've got some time before he calls and says he's comin' back with more intel. We can come back to the table tomorrow or the next day or the day after that if we have to because I know this is a lot to process. _I_ still haven't processed it - I don't know if I ever really will, but you know what I mean."

He pushed out a rough sigh and dove in headfirst.

"At the end of the day, I don't think we can put any weight in any piece of intel he's ever given us on Darby. And if that's true, and I think it is, that means we're no closer to getting justice for Clay either."

Or Gemma, he thought with a heavy heart. She may never fully recover from this now - just when she was finally starting to live her life again, and finding some damn happiness again. This was going to crush her, he knew that, but what Harrison had done couldn't be allowed to stand.

"But I think we're all in agreement here that Harrison, or whatever the fuck his name is, has committed some pretty fucking egregious and unforgivable sins against my old lady and against this club. We need him to come back to the clubhouse one more time, so I guess he's got one last chance to actually deliver on the intel he promised us. But even if that doesn't happen, I honestly don't believe I'll ever sleep, I'll ever eat, I'll ever feel like I can fucking _breathe_ as long as _he's_ still breathing. The shit he put her through, the games he played with her, with us…the way he took advantage of her and violated her trust and her body…I want him to answer for that with blood. _His_ blood."

He waited long enough to see a round of nods wave through the table, and then he moved to the vote:

Jax looked to Tig first, who sat to his right, and Tig nodded before murmuring, "Yay."

Then he shifted to Chibs next, whose eyes were still rooted to his hands in front him.

"Yay," Chibs called out softly.

And then Happy: "Yay."

And Piney, who pressed a grim smile to lips as he nodded, "Yay."

And then Juice, who didn't hesitate: "Yay."

And Bobby, who still had tears in his eyes, "Yay."

And finally, to Opie, who nodded to Jax with a primal finality, "Yay."

"Yay," Jax whispered.

_Fucking yay._

The table fell into a heavy silence after that as the weight of what they'd done, and what they'd all agreed upon settled on their shoulders.

"You know, prez," Piney called out into the silence. "I think I speak for everyone at this table right now when I say that - we voted, we're all in agreement on what needs to happen, and I think we can all make our peace with that for our own reasons. But as far as what happens now, and _how_ it happens…your girl, your call, prez."

Jax's gaze shifted to the rest of the table and found them all nodding in solemn agreement. No one was even slightly on the fence about it. No one had felt pushed or talked into agreeing to this.

"Whatever you wanna do, Jax," Juice nodded to him tightly, hunching his elbows on the table as he spoke. "We got your back. You need me to dig you a hole, I'll dig you a hole."

"You wanna set the guy on fire and watch him burn," Tig nodded with a slightly depraved glint in his dark eyes. "I'll light the torch, bro."

Happy tipped his chin to Jax now too. "You wanna skin him alive, prez, I'll hold him down as long as you need me to."

Jax's lips lifted in a grim smile, even as Bobby shook his head furiously from his end of the table.

"I don't think any of that shit is enough," Bobby murmured hoarsely. "That fucker deserves more than just that."

He nodded tightly, and mashed his spent cigarette in his ashtray before lighting up another one. This time, though, he didn't fumble with the trigger on his lighter. This time, his fingers hit their mark.

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to explain what this means to me, brothers," Jax told the table in a hoarse, heavy voice. "The fact that you're all willin' to set aside this agreement we made - for me, for this club, for _her_ …I'll never take that for granted, and I'll never fucking forget it. All I can say is that right here, in this moment, I've never been prouder to wear this patch and hold this gavel."

He found another round of tight nods, along with the resolve and the determination to see this through to the end with him. There was no doubt, no apprehension, and no question on any of their faces.

"So," Opie called out quietly. "What do you wanna do, prez?"

Jax took a deep breath. He needed to think on that one. There'd only be one shot to get it right, to _make_ it right, and he wouldn't fuck it up. He just needed a little bit of time to let it simmer, to really let the feelings he had for Tyler Harrison envelope him and hold him tight. He'd find the right way. Something appropriate for his crimes. Something that would inflict the most pain and the most terror at the same time.

He wanted Tyler Harrison to suffer an agonizingly slow and excruciatingly painful death.

He just didn't know what that was yet.

"I need some time to untangle that," Jax told them with a heavy sigh. "When I sort it out, I'll bring it to the table to make sure everyone's good with it and knows the plan."

When he saw another round of nods make their way around the room, with nothing else left to do and say, he pounded the gavel to bring church to an end. Then he shuffled out of the room, nodding to his brothers as they made room so he could head out into the clubhouse first, letting them clap him on the shoulder and pull him in for a quick embrace in a show of support and respect, and he took that in. Let it happen. Let them give him that.

He headed for the bar first, mashing another spent cigarette in an ashtray before his elbows even hit the counter. He tipped his chin to the prospect behind the bar, and scooped up the beer the prospect set in front of him the second it hit the counter. Jax shifted on his heel, scanning the main floor for the prospect who'd driven Allie home, and when he found him, he tipped his chin to him, lifting a hand in the air with a whistle to call him over.

The prospect didn't waste anytime, ambling over immediately and tilting his head down to listen to whatever his president had to say.

"Yeah, prez?"

Jax sucked in a harsh breath as he brought his cigarette back up to his lips. His hands were fucking shaking again. Goddammit.

"Any problems gettin' my old lady home?" Jax murmured.

The prospect swallowed tightly, shifting his weight a little from side to side as Jax waited, his patience quickly wearing thin.

"There weren't any problems, but she, uh," he rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. "She was crying the whole time...all the way to her house."

Jax's heart twisted violently in his chest at the thought of her crying in the truck with just a prospect sitting next to her for company.

God fucking dammit.

Maybe he should've driven her home himself, but then again, he would've felt like he had to go inside the house with her and give her some kind of comfort, if there was any real comfort he could give her right now, and then the club would still be sitting at the bar, waiting for the answers he'd just given them.

Still, knowing she'd been crying, that he hadn't been there… he didn't know whether to break down into heaving sobs, vomit on the floor, or punch someone in the face.

"I didn't say anythin' to her, prez," the prospect jumped to explain. "I didn't think you'd want me to, so I didn't."

"You're right," Jax nodded to him tersely and put a hand on his shoulder. "Good job. And thank you for gettin' her home safe."

Then he leaned in, glancing over his shoulder to wave the prospect behind the bar over too, and he murmured to them both lowly, and pointedly, "I'm only gonna say this once, and you better make sure every other prospect knows this too - if anyone, and I mean fucking _anyone_ , ever puts a drink in front of my old lady in this clubhouse, I will personally drag them outside, string them up in the parking lot, and beat them with a crowbar. We clear?"

They nodded anxiously, and he didn't feel the need to waste any more time with them here. They got the picture, and they certainly got the consequences they'd reap if they weren't careful.

And by now, his VP had sidled up next to him by the bar with his eyebrows lifted in some amusement.

"Can't say I blame ya," Opie told him as he leaned an elbow on the bar to light up a cigarette. "I agree it needs to be clear with everyone, if it wasn't already, that no one asks her about it or puts a drink in front of her, but you didn't have to make 'em piss themselves, prez."

"Oh, I think the punishment's pretty fair, especially if they're too stupid to remember."

"Alright," Opie huffed out a laugh, and then tipped his chin to him. "You should get home to her, Jax. You don't have to hang around here for any of our sakes. Besides, I'm gonna head out in a few myself - I'm gonna go home, hug my wife, and figure out how the hell I'm gonna get to sleep tonight."

Jax nodded tightly. Yeah, he really did need to get home to her. He wasn't necessarily _trying_ to stall, but at the same time, he could feel it in the back of his throat. That lump in his throat, that pit in his stomach, that burning and stinging in the corners of his eyes…it was coming. And he didn't want that to happen in front of her. She'd already been through enough. The last thing she needed to deal with today was him breaking down in front of her.

Besides, there was something else he probably needed to take care of today too, if only to just rip the bandaid off and get it over with.

And, if he was being completely honest with himself, he just really needed to see her right now too.

* * *

Jax pulled into the driveway, killed the engine, and unsnapped his helmet before swinging his legs over the side of his bike. He just needed 15 minutes, maybe 20, to clear his head. All he needed was a little bit of a break and a little bit of guidance, and then he could be on his way. So, he walked around the side of the house, stopping just short of pulling the door open to the kitchen.

He huffed out a laugh, remembering he hadn't called before coming over here, and maybe he shouldn't just walk in without knocking first. He pounded a fist on the door, waiting, and then pounded his fist on the door again. That old familiar paranoia set in, and he had half a mind to run back to his bike for his Glock, but he still had his Ka-bar knife on him just in case. When he pounded his fist on the door again, and _still_ got nothing, his instincts were screaming at him to get his ass inside the house and make sure nothing was wrong.

He knocked one more time, and then pushed through the door to step inside the kitchen with his hand on his Ka-bar knife.

"Ma?" he called out, suddenly feeling a little apprehensive that he was even in the house in the first place.

But he never really called before he came over, because he'd never really had to before. Besides, at one point, he'd lived here too. This had been his house too. But he had an uneasy feeling that the silence in this house had nothing to do with his mother being in any danger. And when he heard some hushed murmurs and then a thud coming from down the hallway, his eyes widened.

Oh fuck.

And then two seconds later, he heard her muffled voice from her bedroom, "Hold on a second, Jax!"

So, he took that second, hurrying back out the door he'd just come through, and glanced behind his shoulder as he brought his phone up to his ear. He knew he should probably just hop back on his bike and go home to her, but he also really fucking needed to talk to his mother right now.

"Hello?"

"Hey, baby," he smiled into the phone at the sound of her voice. At least she seemed calm, if not a tiny bit out of breath. "What are you up to right now?"

"Well, I just got back from a long run. It felt good. I feel better."

"Good. I'm glad that helped, baby. Is Dan home with you right now?"

"Yeah, he's here. It sounds like he's gonna spend the night at Adrian's apartment tonight."

There was a short pause, and then as if on cue, Gemma whipped the door open clad in a robe, a little breathless, a little disheveled. She hitched a hand on her hip, and of course, Jimmy was standing just over her shoulder, wearing a pair of sweatpants and that was about it. Just fucking great.

And whatever his mother saw written on his face had her eyes narrowing with concern.

"What's going on, Jax?" Gemma asked slowly.

He just held up a hand, turning his attention back to Allie, and took a few steps away from the house to give him a little more privacy.

"Hey, Allie," he murmured into the phone now. "I'm gonna get home to you as soon as I can. I stopped at Gemma's 'cuz I gotta bring her up to speed on some things, but look…your dad is here. And some of the shit I gotta talk to Gemma about…I don't know if you -"

"It's alright," Allie told him with a sigh. "Maybe…maybe it's better this way anyway. I really don't want to have to put myself through all that again and maybe it's just better if he hears it from you and not me. You can tell him, Jax."

He could hear the weariness in her voice too. The emotional exhaustion coupled with the physical exhaustion. While he wasn't particularly looking forward to what was going to happen next, if it would take this off her shoulders, and if it would make something, even just one thing, easier for her, then that was what he was going to do.

"Okay, Allie. I'll take care of it."

"Thank you, Jax."

He grinned softly into the phone, even though that only made the frown on Gemma's face deepen. "I'll be home soon. I love you."

"Love you too."

Then he snapped his prepay shut, and tossed it back inside his cut with a heavy sigh. When he lifted his gaze back up to where Gemma and Jimmy stood in the doorway, he found them both watching him carefully, cautiously, as if they both just instinctively knew his reason for coming over today wasn't good.

"Jackson," Gemma called out tentatively, her hands still hitched on her hips. "What's goin' on here?"

The longer he stood outside the house, the more agitated Gemma and Jimmy seemed to become, so Jax sidestepped around them until he was standing in the kitchen again, with his mother and his old lady's father trailing behind him.

"Jax…" Gemma tried again. "You gonna tell us what the hell is goin' on or you gonna just stand there all night?"

He scrubbed his face with both hands wearily, pulling out a chair at the kitchen table and sinking down with a heavy thud.

"I gotta talk to you about somethin'," Jax told them softly, running a hand through his hair and then, with a glance at Jimmy, he winced a little. "Jimmy, you think you could…I don't know, put on a shirt or somethin'?"

This was all surreal enough on its own, but to have Allie's dad - who also happened to be banging his mom - sitting here at this table without a shirt on was a little more than he could handle. Gemma and Jimmy exchanged an apprehensive glance, but Jimmy obliged, padding down the hallway to disappear into Gemma's bedroom for his missing shirt. Now, Gemma sank into the chair next to Jax and covered his hand with hers, her eyes widening with surprise as she looked down at their hands.

"Your hands are shaking," Gemma whispered. "What's wrong?"

"We should wait until Jimmy comes back," Jax nodded tightly, but that didn't ease the worry creasing Gemma's forehead or the dread he saw creeping across her face. Jimmy appeared in the kitchen again a few moments later, this time wearing a shirt, and he joined them at the table, taking a seat across from them.

"Jax," Gemma prompted.

He swallowed tightly, giving himself a moment to light up a cigarette and he was glad Gemma took that moment to do the same. She was going to need the nicotine in a few minutes anyway. And then, with his eyes rooted to the table, he launched into it, determined to keep this brief and as painless as possible.

"Somethin' came up with our PI, Ma," he told her, finally letting his eyes drift over to Gemma, whose face had turned to stone. He tipped his head back to blow out a long stream of smoke to give himself another moment. "We feel pretty positive that all the intel he's been giving us these last few months has been complete bullshit."

Gemma leaned back in her seat stiffly, but her eyes never left his. "And how do you know that, Jackson?"

Jax blew out a heavy sigh. "We know because we found out today that Allie knew him in college," his eyes briefly flicked to Jimmy, but he tore his eyes away just as quickly. "She dated him for a few months - he was going by a different name back then and that's why she didn't make the connection whenever anyone talked about him until she saw him pull up into T-M's parking lot today."

He paused there, unable to look Jimmy in the eye, so he glanced at Gemma instead, and found her eyebrows already knitted together uneasily, almost like she already knew what he was about to say.

"So," he ran a hand through his hair again and swallowed hard. "She was tryin' to end things with him, and they were at a party. She got drunk to the point where she didn't know where she was, what she was doin', if she was inside or outside, and then he carried her up the stairs to his room, and he raped her."

Now that it was out, for the second fucking time today, he never wanted to have to say those words ever again if he could help it. Gemma and Jimmy didn't need the rest of the details or the rest of the story - this was the most important part, and this was the thing that had signed Tyler Harrison's death warrant.

Gemma lifted a trembling hand to her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut. And Jimmy…he couldn't make himself look at Allie's dad just yet. He knew what he would see, the devastation and the rage that had to be all over his face, and Jax just wasn't ready to bear witness to all that yet.

"Jesus Christ," Gemma exhaled. "Is she…where is she right now? Is she okay, Jax? What happened?"

"She's at home right now," Jax pushed out roughly. "Dan's with her. I had a prospect drive her home after she talked to me and Ope about all this at the clubhouse today."

Now, Gemma was leaning forward. "But is she _okay_ , Jax? You should get home to her - we don't have to do this right now."

"She's…strong. So fuckin' strong," he told her. "You know that. And I know I need to get home to her, and I will. I _will._ I just needed to talk to you first."

His mother nodded slowly, understanding and sympathy filling her dark eyes immediately. At the end of the day, he'd just needed his mom for a little bit. Just needed to talk to her.

And then Jimmy called out hoarsely from across the table, his face twisted with devastation and grief: "So what happens now?"

Jax nodded to him tightly as he flicked some ash from his cigarette into the ashtray Gemma pushed at him. "Now, in light of all this, we know we can't take anything he's ever told us at face value. There's no doubt in my mind he's been keepin' tabs on her all these years - on her last night before she transferred, he put a picture of her in his bed from that night under her door. So, she took that picture and sent it to everyone who'd be able to do somethin' about it - the dean of students, his frat, the place he was gonna intern that summer. He lost that internship, got kicked out of his frat, had to transfer schools…everyone must've known at that school then that she was telling the truth - they didn't believe her at the time, but I think they did after that."

Gemma's lips quirked up into a soft smile, and she murmured with a nod, "Good for her."

"Yeah," he nodded proudly. "And if things got bad enough that he had to change his name, change all his plans, of course he blames her for all that, right? I can't imagine a motherfucker like that has ever taken responsibility for anything in his entire life."

"And you think he's been watching her all these years? Knowing where she was? What she was doing?" Jimmy called out achingly from the other side of the table as he ran a hand over his face.

Jax nodded tightly, feeling an angry line tick down his jaw just at the thought. "He knew about the club back then too. Knew who Ope was. I'm not exactly sure what his plan is here, but he's been runnin' a game on us, that's for damn sure. He knew exactly what he was doin' when he took that first meeting with us, and I got a pretty good feeling he's been just draggin' this shit out. Tellin' me he thought he had a lead but it didn't pan out, tellin' me he just needs another week or two, tellin' us he found our guy but now he's been moved…I think it was all just a cash grab for him. Either he's known exactly where Darby was this whole time, and he's been runnin' a con on us, or he's got no idea and all this intel is bullshit, and he's _still_ been runnin' a con on us."

He leaned forward now to put a hand on his mother's shoulder.

"And, Ma," he told her gently. "I think this means that we may never find him. The club made peace with that at the table today, okay? We tried, we really did, Ma, but I don't think we're ever gonna find him."

Gemma sat stiffly in her chair, staring blankly at the lines in her kitchen table.

"I wanted to tell you now," Jax pushed on. "So you could start makin' your peace with it too, and so you understood why we're takin' our PI off our payroll."

Jimmy tipped his chin to Jax, his dark eyes hard and filled with barely-contained fury. "And after you take your PI off your payroll, what happens then?"

Jax lifted his eyes to meet his old lady's father square in the eye. "I'm gonna make him pay for what he did to her in blood."

Jimmy eyed him carefully, letting those words, that declaration, that _vow,_ settle over the room with a grim finality.

"I'm gonna make this right for her," Jax told him in a firm, resolute voice. "I promise you that."

There was nothing else he could say. Nothing else he could do - other than to make good on that promise. And he would. He really fucking would.

Jimmy nodded absentmindedly, rubbing his fingertips over his mouth, and then he pushed out of his chair, and started stalking toward the door. He stopped halfway around the table, and met Jax in the eye before holding out a hand to him.

"I trust you to take care of this. Whatever justice you think needs to be dealt, I trust you do to it," Jimmy nodded to him as Jax reached up to shake his old lady's father's hand. "I gotta take a walk."

Jax glanced over his shoulder long enough to see Jimmy stalk out the door, his shoulders tense and hunched over, and then Jax shifted his gaze back to his mother before roughly scrubbing both hands over his face. Gemma put one hand on his shoulder, and reached out with the other to cover his trembling hands.

His chest was heaving now as he swallowed hard, feeling the wall start to crumble around him. He'd spent the last few hours staying calm, keeping his cool, remaining the stoic president he had to be in the face of a club crisis, but he'd hit his threshold now. His shoulders began to shake as he brought a trembling hand up to cover his face, tears stinging and pricking until they finally filled his eyes.

With tears streaming down his cheeks, he hunched over the table, both hands covering his face as his entire body gave way to the heaving sobs he'd kept at bay before now. He couldn't stop them now. Couldn't stop the way his body shook and heaved. Couldn't stop the devastation that racked his body. The grief. The fucking horror of what had happened to her, from start to finish.

He hadn't really let himself think about it before now. To let it really and completely hit him. That someone had held her down, and forced her… _her..._

Then he shoved out of his chair at the table, his throat burning and his stomach churning, and he sprinted into the kitchen with Gemma right on his heels. With both hands on the sink, he jerked his head down and emptied the contents of his stomach right there in his mother's kitchen.

Everything seemed to blur around him, and he was vaguely aware of his mother's hands on his back, pushing his hair out of his face, but he just squeezed his eyes shut as one last round of vomit burned his throat. His head dipped down into the sink again as he heaved and gulped for air at the same time. And when his body finally had enough, his knees buckled and gave out on him altogether.

Gemma ran the faucet for a few moments, and then sank into the floor with him as his elbows hit his knees and he covered his face with his hands. With his mother's hands around his shoulders, he gave into it all again, letting out all the guttural, devastated sobs he'd kept at bay.

"I don't know what to do, Mom," he whispered in between sobs. "I don't _fucking_ know what to do. Don't know what to say…don't know how to help her."

Gemma leaned in to pull their heads together, her arms still protectively encircling his shoulders. "I know, baby. I know."

He swallowed hard as another hot tear rolled down his cheek. "How could that have happened to her? I just can't…I keep picturing it now. I keep seein' it happening in my head over and over again, and I just…I just fucking _can't_."

Gemma blew out a heavy sigh and pushed some hair out of his face. "I know, Jax. I know. I don't think any of us will ever be able to make sense of it. I don't know what else to tell you."

He covered his eyes with a trembling hand and pinched the bridge of his nose in a weak attempt at abating those tears. It didn't work. All he could do was shove the tears away with the back of his hand as they fell. There was nothing more he could do except sit on the floor of his mother's kitchen, lean back against the cabinets, and cry his eyes out.

"I just don't understand how she's even still standing," Jax whispered through his tears. "The things she went through…Mom, she said it _hurt_ ," he choked on that last word as his shoulders shook with sobs again. "She said it fucking _hurt_ , Mom. I don't think she was even conscious for half of it, but she fucking remembers that it _hurt._ I just can't…I just fucking can't. That someone could do that to her, _hurt_ her that way..."

He couldn't say the words anymore even if he wanted to. He didn't think he'd ever be able to say it again without needing to find the nearest trash can, or kitchen sink, to vomit in. And when he thought about all the times he'd had Allie's body wrapped around him, the trust she put in him every time, the love she gave him every time - the heaviness of that, the magnitude of it… he couldn't even begin to wrap his head around the fact that she'd given that to him so freely, so passionately, and without hesitation.

He'd never take it for granted. Not for one fucking second.

He really was the luckiest son of a bitch in the world.

"Jax," Gemma murmured to him gently. "I know there's nothing I can do or say that will ever make this better for either of you. But I _do_ know that Allie is strong. She's tough as nails - and maybe this is why. But setting aside all that, your old lady _is_ still standing. She's picked herself back up, built a life for herself, and she's invited you into that life. All you gotta do is love her, Jax. Just love her. That's all you can do for her now."

"I know," he nodded into his hands. "I know. But, Mom, you don't understand…I talked to her that night. I was fuckin' drunk off my ass and I don't even remember it - the first I heard about that shit was when she told me about it a couple hours ago. I _talked_ to her."

Gemma was frowning back at him now, but her hand drifted across his back to rub it soothingly. "What do you mean?"

"That night that was the same night we were celebratin' in the clubhouse when Ope found he was gonna be a dad for the first time, and he called her to tell her. I grabbed the phone away from him and started talkin' to her. I don't even remember that. Not a fucking word. It was just bullshit too. Complete fucking bullshit. But I _talked_ to her maybe an hour or two before it happened - I was fucking sitting in the clubhouse gettin' wasted and probably fuckin' around with some stupid croweater, and where was she, right? Where the fuck was _I_?"

His mother pushed out a heavy sigh and tilted her head to the side, her eyes filled with sympathy and understanding. "Jax, there was nothing you could've done to help her. You were in Charming that night and she was hours away at school. There was no way you could've known and even if you did, it's not like the two of you were in a place where she even would've _wanted_ you ridin' in to the rescue."

"I know," Jax sighed as he scrubbed a hand over his face and wiped his cheek with the back of his hand. "I _know_ that. I just…I'm just having a hard time wrappin' my head around all this shit. And you wanna know what's even worse?"

His mom's lips lifted grimly in a sad smile of encouragement. "What's that?"

"I treated that motherfucking asshole like a guest in my clubhouse. I welcomed him, I gave him booze, let him get comfortable with a croweater…I talked to him like we were _friends_ or something, Mom. Do you _get_ that? I actually thought he seemed like a decent guy, someone who was cool, someone I'd hang with outside of the job…and the whole fucking time, the _whole_ time, he was lying right to my face. I fucking _talked_ to him on the phone when I was in her bedroom, Mom - she was _in_ the room, fucking getting dressed when I was talkin' to the person who…I hate myself for that, Mom. I fucking _hate_ myself for that. He _knew_ what he was doing. _Knew_ what he'd done to her. _Knew_ who we were. And he still had the balls to walk into my clubhouse and pull that shit with me. I can't…I can't even put into words the way I wanna tear him apart, piece by fucking piece."

And it wasn't even just that. It was the betrayal attached to it. The slimy deception of stepping foot onto Samcro's property, shaking hands with him, and acting like he was some kind of professional, all the while knowing he was sitting in the same clubhouse that belonged to Allie's former step-brother and the rest of the club.

Gemma nodded, sympathy written all over her disturbed features. "I hear you, baby. I can only imagine…I'm sure it feels like the rug got ripped out from under you with all this. Here, you'd thought he was doin' his job, and that he was gonna find Darby, and now it's all shot to shit anyway."

His lips pulled apart in a grimace, and he shook his head, running a hand through his hair as he spoke. "I'm so sorry, Ma. When we hired him, everything looked legit. Juice ran every background check, did all the digging, cross-checked every reference, and it all looked real. And maybe it was real - I'm sure he probably is an actual private investigator and that at some point, he might've delivered what we hired him to do, but, Ma, I just can't let this stand. I can't allow him to -"

"I know," Gemma nodded tightly, her hand squeezing Jax's shoulder reassuringly. "You need to take care of this. It's not fair - I know that. But, you know what, Jackson? Life's not fair either. And I know I've been movin' on, but I still lost my husband almost six months ago and I didn't even get to say goodbye. I barely got a funeral, and he deserves his justice. _I_ deservejustice."

Jax swallowed hard, letting his head fall in between his elbows in defeat. He'd had every intention of at least _trying_ to find Clay's murderer so Gemma could get her justice and her closure, but now it just didn't seem like that was going to happen.

"Ma," he murmured to her hoarsely. "I know what I promised you, and I'm so sorry -"

"Jackson," she cut in softly and firmly at the same time. "She deserves her justice too. If only one of us gets to have it, with everything she went through…everything that happened to her, it might as well be her."

He nodded into his hands, wiping some more stray tears with the back of his hand. "I'm still sorry. I want you to have your justice, I really do. But I need to make this right for her."

"I know, baby," Gemma smiled sadly, brushing a tear from his cheek as she spoke. "You need to do what's right for your old lady. That's your job now. If our roles were reversed, and you were Clay, I know he'd be makin' the exact same call for me. I know you love her, Jax."

"I really do," his lips lifted in spite of himself, and in spite of the reality he found himself in, and he shook his head. "You know, there were a lot of things about her that I'd always wondered but never really got a straight answer about. Why she worked for Jimmy. Why she never drank. Why she's always been so dead-set on keeping the actors at the studio safe - she's used that word a few times with me whenever we've talked about it. Keeping them in a _safe_ and _controlled_ environment…I think those were the exact words she used. That shit makes a lot more sense now."

"Maybe working for her dad at that studio was her way of shoving it in the past…makin' a point," Gemma nodded with a smile.

"Or she just didn't give a shit what anyone else thought of her after all that went down and wanted to work for her dad, so she did," Jax shrugged.

Gemma huffed out a laugh and shook her head. "Maybe it's a little bit of both."

He nodded absentmindedly, his jaw working around some amusement as he had another thought. "You know - that night she was at a CEOs and office hoes party at that frat. And when I think about the way she dresses now, what a goddamn smoke show she is every single day in those tight skirts and button-up shirts, I gotta think that, every morning when she gets dressed, she's givin' every single person who was at that party the middle finger. I mean, she wears a version of what she was probably wearin' at that party every single day, right? Sure, she doesn't show as much skin as I'd like, but I think I get it now too."

"I think she's been takin' her power back every day since then," Gemma smiled softly, proudly, almost like Allie was one of her own too.

"Well," Jax huffed. "She's got no problems kickin' ass and takin' names either. You've never seen her in a business meeting. The first time I was on the other end of things, and she was staring back at me with the upperhand, I just about shit myself."

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

There was a question right on the tip of his tongue, but he just wasn't so sure he wanted to invite his mother into that part of his life with Allie. Some things a mom just didn't need to know, but on the other hand, he wasn't sure he'd be able to ask Allie either. At least not in the right way, and not without sounding like an asshole or making her uncomfortable.

"Hey, Ma, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

He rubbed the back of his neck a little anxiously, still on the fence on whether this was the right call. And in the end, if given the choice between the two, he'd rather make Gemma uncomfortable.

"Well, I'm not quite sure how to…so, Allie is…" he trailed off, his eyes dropping to the floor as he fumbled for the right words. "Things between us," he pushed out a rough sigh, and then just went for it, "so things between us in bed are good. _Real_ good. Like…better than good. The best I've ever had, actually."

Now, Gemma's lips curled up a little mischievously, and her eyebrows lifted in anticipation. "Okay. So what's your question?"

"I guess, I'm just not sure how…with what happened to her, and how it happened, and the way she said it _felt_ , I guess I just…I mean, she's never given me any kind of signal or anything that she doesn't like what I'm doin' or that she's nervous about it or uncomfortable or…" the words failed him and he just didn't know how to continue. He knew what he wanted to ask. He just didn't know _how_ to ask it.

Gemma eyed him carefully, and he could see the wheels in her head turning. "So what you're _really_ asking me is, how does someone who's been through something like that turn around and still enjoy sex?"

"Yeah…" he allowed gingerly. That was pretty much the gist of it anyway. "Before me, she said she'd never really had time for dating, so she mainly just…"

"Hooked-up?" Gemma offered helpfully, even though this topic of conversation was one he was ready to steer away from.

Now, he glanced at her warily from over his shoulder, the tears long gone, and more apprehension in their wake. He hadn't come over here to have a conversation with his mother about his sex life, or about his old lady's sex life before him for that matter, but here they were.

"Hey, good for her," Gemma just laughed. "Everyone deals with their issues in different ways, and I don't know, Jax, maybe enjoying sex and taking what she wanted from it was just another way of taking her power back. Maybe she liked sex before that happened to her and she found a way to like it afterward too."

"She _has_ mentioned that she used a dating app before to…shit, anyway, she's mentioned that she liked the control, and getting to choose where and how and with who. All that makes more sense to me now. Not that it didn't before, but you know what I mean. But that's it though, isn't it? She _needs_ the power and the control, and I think I've been givin' that to her, for the most part, since the first time she let me put my hand up her skirt."

He immediately grimaced when he realized what he'd just said, out loud, to his mother.

 _And_ …right there, he knew he'd just shared way too much personal information with his mother than she ever needed to know. Judging by the impressed glint in her eye though, she didn't seem to care too much. He blew out a heavy breath and scrubbed his face with his hands, wincing a little when his mother nudged him with her shoulder.

"Like I said," Gemma nodded. "Maybe she liked it before and found a way to like it afterward. And a little advice, Jax - whatever you're doin' in bed with her? Keep doin' it, 'cuz it's obviously workin' for the both of you. Don't let up. Don't treat her any differently now that you know. If she liked it rough before today, she's still gonna like it rough after. If she liked a certain position before today, she's still gonna like it tomorrow, you know what I mean? Give her what she wants, and don't be a pussy about it."

"Jesus Christ," he murmured and scrubbed his face with his hands again. Still, he had to admit. That was pretty good advice. Even if it was coming from his mom.

Gemma just nudged him again. "I figured she was a firecracker in bed."

"Jesus, Ma," he sighed, and when she just nudged him again, he just gave up and came clean. "Alright, alright. It just _works_ between us. Very, very well. And yes, things between us in bed are pretty fuckin' explosive."

"You think I haven't seen the way you look at her when you think no one else is lookin'?" Gemma laughed. "The way you watch her? You look like a man who wants his woman every minute of every day, every way he can have her."

"That _is_ true," he smirked at her. "I've honestly never felt the things I feel when I'm with her. Everything…in and out of bed, it's just all _different_ with her. It's _right_ with her, and I'm lovin' every second of it."

"I'm glad to hear it," Gemma smiled. "She's all I ever wanted for you, baby."

Now it was his turn to nudge her. "Looks like things between you and Jimmy are goin' well in that department too," and then his hands immediately flew up in the air, "I don't need details or anything. I just figured, you know, since we went down this road, it's only fair."

His mother grinned at him with a sly look in her eyes that he didn't particularly like. "Yeah. Things _are_ goin' well. _Very_ well, actually. He makes me happy. And I didn't think I'd ever be happy like this again."

Jax's lips lifted softly as he put a hand over the one she had resting on his shoulder. "Good. I'm glad, Ma. That's all I ever wanted for you too."

" _And_ ," Gemma smirked. "He's dynamite in the sack, so there's _that_ too."

Now, his lips pulled apart in a grimace, and he squeezed his eyes shut. "Aw, fuck. I said I didn't need details, Ma."

"Hey," she just lifted a shoulder. "Maybe it's in the genes or somethin', you know? I mean, they're both _clearly_ good in bed."

His head whipped to the side to face his mother, horror written all over his face. "Mom! Don't _ever_ -"

Her cackle cut him right off as she swatted him on the shoulder. This was just…he didn't even know where to start with this shit. He scrubbed his face with his hands before cocking a wary eyebrow at his mother.

"Ya know," he shook a finger at her just for good measure. "Allie said not too long ago that this was startin' to feel a little incestuous, and now I think I agree."

"Oh, come on, Jackson! You can't take a joke or what?"

He shook his head furiously. "Not one like _that_ , I can't."

She just rolled her eyes at him, clearly unphased by the turn this conversation had taken. "Well, if you feel that way, if _she_ feels that way, then I'm sorry. I don't wanna make it weird for either of you."

"Well, you _are_ bangin' my old lady's dad. It was weird from the start, Ma."

Gemma just shrugged. "You two will get over it eventually. But, hey, I think you're doin' a pretty good job balancing all this. You and Jimmy are walking a pretty fine line with each other. You bangin' his daughter while he's bangin' your mom? Can't imagine it's easy to have a normal conversation with him, or vice versa, not to mention the fact that you're still technically business partners."

"Jesus Christ."

"Hey, if everyone's happy at the end of the day, isn't that all that matters?"

Jax eyed her carefully before leaning in to bump her with his shoulder. "My ol' lady's not gonna end up being my step-sister anytime soon, right? 'Cuz…I want you to be happy and all, Ma, but I don't think that's somethin' I can get behind. At least not without a shit-ton of time to mentally and physically prepare."

She just laughed heartily and shook her head at him. "Nah, baby. I don't think I'm gonna head down that road again. Twice was more than enough, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah," he nodded easily. "I know exactly what you mean. Twice is all I'm plannin' on too."

Gemma's lips lifted in a soft smile as she put a hand on his arm. "That's good to hear. You really love her, don't you?"

Easiest answer of his life: "Yeah, Ma. I really do."

"I know she really loves you too. I can see it when she looks at you, and when she thinks no one is watching," Gemma smiled proudly. "And it sounds like, judging by everything you said, maybe she took my advice, and if that's the case then I say good for her, and good for you too."

Jax's eyebrows knitted together in a frown. "What advice?"

Gemma smiled knowingly. "I took her out for lunch the day after you got into it with Piney at the clubhouse. She might've told you about that."

"She did."

"And at a certain point," his mother grinned mischievously. "She asked me about being the president's old lady, specifically, what that meant, what would be expected of her. Those were fair questions, considering being an old lady is one thing, but being the old lady to the _president…_ that's a whole other beast to wrangle. And the fact that she asked _me_ \- that was smart. And kinda ballsy of her too, considering I'd also just told her I wasn't happy with either of you for keepin' secrets from me."

Yeah, it was. Jax felt himself smile at the thought of Allie staring down his mother from across a table in a restaurant, maybe a little afraid, but not scared enough to keep her from getting the answers she needed. Just like any good lawyer would do. Just like any strong, resilient person would do. And the questions she'd needed to ask - it made sense she would have those questions and want the answers, to figure out what was expected of her now and what she needed to be, as if she ever had anything to worry about. God, he fucking loved her.

"So what did you tell her?"

Gemma just lifted a shoulder a little too easily for his liking. "I told her that what happens in your home, in your bedroom, in your relationship, that all bleeds over to the clubhouse. People will pick up on it, see it, and watch for it because all eyes are gonna be on you, and on her too as your old lady. People are gonna be lookin' to the both of you for leadership and they're gonna be watchin' for the example you set."

He could only shrug. That was fair. Gemma was right, and with her history within the club, she knew that better than anyone.

"And," Gemma went on cheerfully. "I also told her to make sure you felt like a man when you're at home with her. And the same goes for you too, Jackson - you better make sure she feels like a woman when you're home with her too, when you're _anywhere_ with her, and the two of you will be just fine."

Huh. That was interesting. His mind slipped back to that day, that _night_ specifically, and what she'd done for him after the break-in, and now that, too, made a little bit more sense. That being said, he also wasn't about to thank his mother for basically being the reason he'd gotten some head that night. No fucking way.

And now, knowing what he knew, the fact that she'd done that for _him_ \- and he remembered her very clearly saying she hadn't done that since she was 19 - the gravity of that was not lost on him. He knew what that meant, the fact that she'd been willing to do it, had _wanted_ to do it, had _enjoyed_ doing it...

"Well," he allowed uneasily. "I guess that's good advice."

"I thought so," Gemma nodded with a grin. "It worked for me and your dad. And me and Clay. And it's gonna work for you and Allie too," and then she leaned in to touch their foreheads together, "Jackson, you are a wonderful president. You're gonna lead the club toward a new future, and a new life, and I'm so proud of you for that. And you've found yourself the perfect old lady to have by your side. I couldn't have asked for anyone or anything better for you. And this bump in the road, Jax? It's just that. Like I told you before, all you gotta do is love her. Don't treat her like she's made of glass because you know better than anyone that she's not. Just go home to her, hold her, listen to her, let her cry if that's what she needs, cry _with_ her if that's what she wants, and show her that nothing she told you today changes the way you feel about her. That's all you gotta do."

Jax nodded absentmindedly, running a thumb over his mouth in thought.

"You should get home to her, Jax. It's time."

He nodded again, shooting his mother a quick grin. "I know. Thanks for lettin' me blow off a little steam here," Jax ran a hand over his eyes again just to make sure all the tears were really gone. "I didn't wanna do that in front of her."

"I get it," Gemma smiled sadly, squeezing his shoulder one last time before she pushed off the floor just as Allie's dad walked back through the door.

Jimmy's dark eyes darted between them, before settling his red-rimmed eyes down at Jax, who was still sitting on the floor with his elbows on his knees. He held out a hand to him, and Jax took his hand, letting him pull him up off the floor. Then Jimmy clapped his free hand on Jax's shoulder with a soft smile.

"You're a good man, Jax," his old lady's father told him firmly. "My daughter is lucky to have you in her life."

"Well," Jax huffed out a laugh as he clapped Jimmy on the shoulder too and brought him in for a quick hug. "I'd say I'm the lucky one," and then he tipped his chin to Allie's dad with a smirk, "and just so we're clear, I'm gonna marry your daughter as soon as I can talk her into it."

Jimmy just chuckled heartily and shook his head, his eyes drifting over to Gemma, who had a happy grin playing on her lips. "Is this you asking for my permission?"

"Nah," Jax laughed. "I'm pretty sure the only permission I need is hers."

"Well, _that_ may be true," he lifted his eyebrows in amusement, clapping Jax on the shoulder again with a little more force than he had before. "But knowing Allie, I'd say you've got your work cut out for you on that one."

"I agree, but it's nothin' I can't handle."

Jimmy tipped his chin to Jax, his eyes glimmering with some more amusement, and he shifted his focus to Gemma to explain, "My daughter is a modern woman, and also a very smart and experienced lawyer, and she believes, under no uncertain terms, that marriage is unnecessary and ineffectual at creating lasting love and commitment."

Jax barked out a laugh, especially when he got a good look at his mother's face. "That pretty much sums it up."

"So like I said," Jimmy grinned with a tight nod. "You've got your work cut out for you. But, you know, you two have obviously had this conversation already if you're well aware of my daughter's modern views on romance. So, maybe your road ahead isn't gonna be as long as I think, but still…good luck. You're gonna need it."

"Thanks, Jimmy," Jax laughed. "I appreciate it. Look, I gotta get home to my old lady now, a'ight? We'll talk later though, and I'll let you two get back to…whatever it was you were doin' before I came over here."

Gemma just rolled her eyes but pulled him in for a hug. He shook hands with his old lady's father one more time, and then with a wave over his shoulder, he headed outside and sauntered toward his bike, finally ready to go home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - I know Allie wasn't really in this one, but Jax needed to sort himself out before going home to her. The next chapter will see them work through all this as a couple in both a physical and an emotional way and will really solidify them as partners who can get through anything. Just as a heads up, when I was writing the next chapter, and some of the sex scenes in it, I was thinking about some of the conversations I've had with sexual assault survivors - one of the most common things we hear is how worried they are that their partner will treat them differently once they know what happened to them. So I was thinking a lot about that as I was writing, and how Allie would address that with Jax, and it led to one of the craziest, most intense sex scenes I've ever written.
> 
> There are only six chapters left! I still have the last two to write, actually, and I think I'm holding off because I'm just not ready to say goodbye to these characters just yet. But I will, of course, finish them in time to keep my regular posting schedule.
> 
> On that note, if you've been keeping up with Witness Protection, you know that there's only one chapter left of that one, and then I have a new story that will take WP's spot in my normal Sunday posting. I'm really excited to share it with you because it's different than anything I've ever written before (it starts when the characters are 10, and works through some of those younger years up through high school before a time jump). Here's the summary for Lost and Found, in case you're interested:
> 
> Dylan Shaw hasn't stepped foot in Charming in 13 years, but when Samcro's VP is arrested on murder charges, she's drawn back into the fold, and on assignment to write a profile on the accused murderer. She lost her heart the last time she was in town, and now, she'll find that the ghosts lurking around aren't so dead and buried, and that accused murderer might not be as guilty as he looks.
> 
> So, Lost and Found will be posted not next Sunday, but the following Sunday! Anyway, I hope this update was satisfying as it showed Jax working through all his different emotions about everything as well as how the club reacted to it. As always, thank you so much for reading and sticking with this story! I'm looking forward to your thoughts!


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - Happy Wednesday! Please take note of the rating, if you haven't done that yet ;) When I was writing this chapter, I was thinking a lot about the survivors I've spoken to and the research I've done for work, and the fact that so many survivors say one of their biggest fears is feeling like their partners are going to treat them differently after they find out about the assault. So, I was thinking about that in this chapter, and how Allie might address that with Jax to show him that things don't have to change between them. This chapter has a lot of sex scenes in it, but the purpose was really to show how they're working through this together, both physically and emotionally. By the end, I think they end up a lot closer and more solid as a couple than when they started. Anyway, sorry for the long explanation, but I felt like I needed to explain ahead of time ;) Enjoy!

Allie slid into her tub, closing her eyes as the warm water wrapped around her and soothed her. She leaned back, letting her neck rest at the head of the tub and let her lavender bath soak work its magic on all her stress, all her aches and pains, and the epic dumpster fire that was this day.

She squeezed her eyes closed again and inhaled that calming lavender scent to push everything else away. Warmth and steam surrounded her, and she dipped a little lower into the water until her chin skimmed the edge and her shoulders were completely submerged. Now, she just felt like adding some bubbles, so she hit the knob with her toes to get a steady stream of water flowing again, and dumped some lavender bubble bath into the tub. Then she sank even lower into the warm bubbles, finally feeling the calm and the comfort she needed, and always managed to find in this tub when she needed it most.

Her run had helped beat the aggression and the anger and the frustration out of her, that was for sure. At one point, she was pretty sure she'd been crying and running at the same time, which was a strange feeling. It made her feel stupid too. Crying over something that had happened so long ago, something that she'd thought she had worked so hard to move past and set aside.

But having to sit on that bed today in Jax's dorm, with his hand on her back, and Opie sitting across from them with his eyes rooted to her feet, and say the words from start to finish, and relive it again, step by step, piece by sordid piece… she hadn't anticipated just how emotionally devastated she would feel by the end of it. So drained and spent, and just _relieved._

Maybe she'd needed to say it. And maybe she'd needed to say it to him. Now that it was done, now that he knew everything there was to know, every terrible detail, she just felt _better_. The demons had been exorcised, and she'd come out the other side anew.

The real problem, she knew, was that up until today, she really had thought she'd worked past it. That it didn't rule her life or own her in any way. She'd seen a therapist for a little while after transferring to UCLA, and after a certain point, she'd gotten tired of that therapist droning on over and over again about how her trauma was manifesting itself in unhealthy ways. It hadn't sat well with her, so she'd stopped seeing that therapist. After that, she'd just continued on with her life as usual, closing as many people out as she could.

And now that everything was out in the open, she saw that while those coping mechanisms were maybe not the healthiest, they were still hers. Her chosen path to healing and redemption, and right or wrong, she'd dug her heels in and just kept on living.

Still, there _was_ more to life than just that, and she owed it to herself to live a full and a happy life. She deserved that. She'd earned that.

And when she heard that familiar rumbling of a motorcycle engine bounce off her walls, she smiled to herself and dipped even lower into the bubbly water. She listened with bated anticipation as that rumbling engine grew louder as he rolled into her driveway, as the engine cut out altogether, as the garage door opened, and then shut about a minute later, and then she heard the door through the garage open and close.

His movements were light and quiet through the house, almost as if he was trying not to disturb her, wherever she was, and after he seemingly made his rounds through the first floor, moving through the kitchen, and then the living room, she heard soft steps padding up the stairs. His movements stopped short in the hallway, and after a pause, light rapping sounded against the bathroom door.

"Allie?" Jax's soft voice called out to her from behind the door.

"Yeah?"

He chuckled lightly, and then the door creaked out so he could poke his head through. It took him all of about two seconds for his eyes to drop right on her, nestled in bubbles in her tub, and his lips curled into a sexy smirk. His eyebrows lifted appreciatively as he pushed the door open a little more and leaned a shoulder into the doorframe.

Jax took another moment to let his eyes roam around her in the tub before she heard his low voice again, "Well, _this_ is certainly a nice little surprise to come home to."

Those words warmed her even more than the water surrounding her, and she smiled softly at the way he'd said _come home_. This _was_ his home, even if all he had here in this house was a toothbrush, a stick of deodorant, a pair of shorts, and a few Samcro T-shirts. Maybe that part of it didn't matter so much to him, but it was starting to matter to _her_ , in ways that had completely snuck up on her these last few weeks.

She smiled at the way he still lingered in the doorway, as if he wasn't quite sure how much space she needed, and how much space was too much space.

"You can come in, you know," she called out to him softly. "You don't have to stand out there all night, unless you want to, I guess."

Jax's head tilted to the side, his lips lifting gently, and then he pushed off the doorframe, shuffling with slow, almost hesitant steps deeper inside the bathroom until he gripped the stool next to her by the head of the tub and moved it to the foot. Then he sank down on the stool, leisurely kicking his legs out in front of him, and draped a tattooed forearm along the edge of the tub so he was facing her.

"This is a nice set-up you got here," he murmured, his navy blue eyes soft and loving. "Candles and everything. Smells good too."

"Thanks," she smiled. She leaned back against the head of the tub and sank a little lower into the water again just because it felt good. "I've learned through trial and error what works for me and what doesn't."

His head tilted to the side a little again, dipping toward the water with a light smile playing on his lips.

"There's room for two, you know," she told him, lifting her eyebrows suggestively. "If you'd like to join me."

Now, his lips quirked up with amusement as his head just tilted even deeper to the side, his soft eyes never leaving hers. "I will in a minute."

"Alright, suit yourself," she shrugged easily, letting her body sink until her chin brushed the water's soothing surface and bubbles caressed the side of her face. "You know, when I first bought this house a few years ago, this bathroom and the kitchen were the main reasons why I jumped on it."

Jax's eyes drifted around the room, taking in the expansive glass shower to the right of the tub, the wide window above the tub, the farmhouse light fixtures and sinks at the long, winding vanity against the wall, and he nodded, probably more to himself than anything. He'd certainly been in this bathroom before, but he was looking around almost as if he was seeing it for the first time now - or, at least, seeing it the way she saw it for the first time.

"Yeah, I can see that. I don't tell you this enough, but you've got a really beautiful home here, darlin'. It really is. You earned it, that's for damn sure."

Allie smiled back at him, even as her body slid even lower under the water. "Thanks. I think it's pretty beautiful too. My jaw pretty much dropped the first time I saw this bathroom, and for me, at least right away, it was _all_ about this tub. I just wanted to climb in it immediately and never leave, but I didn't want to make the realtor showing me the house uncomfortable, so I didn't."

He huffed out a laugh as his hand slipped away from the edge of the tub so he could dip his fingertips through the light foam and into the water by her calf.

"I wasn't really thinking about ever having anyone else in this tub with me then, you know?" Allie told him easily, mimicking his movements by tilting her head to the side. "I definitely liked that it was huge and it was comfortable and this claw style had me drooling all over the tile floor, but I was just thinking more about all the relaxing nights I could have in here all by myself, just something quiet and comforting, and it feels _really_ good to take a hot bath like this after going for a run. My feet were already killing me from being in heels all day, and after seven miles of hitting the pavement, they were kinda just throbbing before I got in the water."

Jax's eyebrows lifted with some amusement, but she could see he was still impressed. "Seven miles, huh? Shit, I hate to say it, darlin', but I don't think that's somethin' we'll ever be able to do together."

"With the way you smoke?" Allie laughed, shaking her head. "You wouldn't make it down the street."

"You sayin' I should quit?" he threw back lightly as he cocked a wary eyebrow at her.

She just lifted a shoulder. "It's not a _bad_ idea. I'd like you to be around for as long as you possibly can."

Now, a line ticked down his jaw, working through some amusement, and something else that looked a little bit like understanding, mixed in with some regret too.

"But _anyway_ ," Allie grinned easily. "All I meant was that this," she gestured to the water and the bubbles sealing her away from his view, "it sorta cures what ails me, you know? I mean, when I got in here before, I was feeling some weird pain in my knee too."

She lifted her right leg up and out of the water, and he didn't hesitate, dragging the fingertips he'd already had in the water over to her kneecap, where he traced the wet skin with a ringed finger.

"And it feels better now," Allie smiled at him softly.

"That's good, baby," he murmured, his fingertips still drawing lazy circles on her knee.

"So, I guess what I've been trying to tell you this whole time is that I think this is one of the places I feel most at home here in this house. Everything else just sort of falls away on the floor and I can sink into this water and just forget about everything else for a little while. And, I know you technically live at the clubhouse, but I want you to feel at home like that here too, and I don't just mean by you getting in this tub with me right now. I was thinking…maybe I could clear out a drawer or two in my dresser? I know you already have a few things here, but you can bring more over, if you want that is…I mean, don't feel like you have to just because I -"

"Allie," Jax cut in softly, a sexy smirk playing on his lips as his fingertips drifted up to her thigh. "My home is wherever you are."

She bit down on her bottom lip to hide her happy grin. "Okay."

"But that being said," his eyebrows lifted right along with his lips, "I don't think it's a bad idea to clear out a drawer or two, for me to have a few more things here. Just makes it easier for me comin' and goin' from here to the clubhouse anyway."

Her eyes dropped to the fingertips that were still lazily tracing her slick skin, frowning when she realized they'd started to tremble ever so slightly. When her gaze shot back up to him, he immediately jerked his hand away from her leg, sloshing some water against her knee, and brought his hand back up over the edge of the tub to rest it in his lap, and away from her view. His chest was heaving a little more against his leather cut as his shoulders rose and fell, and he swallowed tightly.

With her head tilted to the side, and a pained smile on her lips, she leaned forward, scooting closer to the foot of the tub to bend her knees until she could reach out and rest a hand against his cheek. The second her hand made contact with his stubbled cheek, he squeezed his eyes shut, turning his face into her touch, his handsome features twisting with grief and the lingering devastation she'd seen in his eyes earlier at the clubhouse. His hand reached out to cover hers, and he turned his head again so he could press his lips into her palm.

"Jax," she murmured.

His eyes flew open at the sound of her voice, even as his chest heaved and his eyes swam with unshed tears.

"Yeah, baby?" he whispered hoarsely.

She smiled down at him as her fingertips drifted down to his lips. "Get in the tub."

Jax huffed out a laugh, finally letting a smirk slide up the side of his face, and he dipped his head down in a nod. "Yes, ma'am."

After that, he didn't hesitate. He rose from that stool, ran his palms underneath his eyes, and slipped off his cut, tossing it lightly on the counter behind him as he kicked off his sneakers. Allie watched with some heated fascination as his lips curved into a knowing smirk and his fingers moved over the buttons on his flannel until he shrugged out of it and tossed it next to his cut. His jeans were next, and he made quick work of his belt buckle and fly, stepping out of them one leg at a time, and then his shirt flew over his head, revealing the rippling muscles on his chiseled chest. He winked at her as his hands slipped his boxer briefs down his thighs and he stepped out of those too, padding over to the tub in all his glory.

She scooted forward again so he could set one foot in and then ease the rest of his body around her before sinking down into the water, letting his back hit the head of the tub. He let out a low whistle as he settled into the warm water and her lavender-scented bubbles and wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her against his naked chest.

"Now _this_ is somethin' we can do together," he murmured in her ear.

She laughed lightly, leaning into his chest and smiling a little at the growing hardness in between his legs, that incidentally, was poking her right in the back.

"Do you see why I love this now? Everything just sort of gets lost in the water, at least for a little while."

"I see what you mean," he had his lips in her hair now and then he moved them to the side of her temples before he spoke again. "This is nice, baby."

His lips traveled from her temple, to the side of her cheek, leaving a trail around her jaw, and then down the side of her neck before they brushed across the back of her neck, moving to the other side of her neck, and then across the other side of her jaw, the side of her cheek, before moving back up to her other temple, his lips lingering on the side of her forehead as he murmured, "I love you."

She smiled, leaning her head into his touch so the sides of their heads kissed. "I know you do, Jax. I love you too."

She traced the tattoo on his right forearm and smiled absentmindedly at the beautiful and intricate memorial to his father forever inked onto his body, as her fingertips moved along the edges of the gravestone and the words _RIP John Teller_. And then her smile faded a little. Samcro had had three presidents in its history, and had lost the first two to a motorcycle accident and a shiv in Stockton. The club's presidents didn't exactly have a long life expectancy, if the first two were any indication.

And it was that thought that had her inhaling a shaky breath, prompting the arms encircling her waist to tighten.

"What is it, baby?"

Allie turned her head a little so she could show him that she was smiling now. "Nothing. I was just thinking about your tattoo."

It was better to just leave it there. This day was already heavy enough - she didn't need to add that into the mix too.

"You thinkin' about gettin' some ink?"

"No," Allie laughed, shooting him a little side-eye while she was at it. "I'm not."

He blew out a heavy sigh before leaning in to drop his chin onto her shoulder as he tucked her in closer. That just made her laugh again and she turned her head to find some exasperation in his eyes. Now, when she just kept laughing, his eyes narrowed at her.

"You're really not gonna make any of this easy on me, are you?"

"What?" she grinned.

Jax huffed out another exasperated sigh, muttering under his breath, "Won't get on my bike, won't let me pay, won't let me give her my crow, won't take my ring…Jesus Christ."

"Hey, I got on your bike."

"Yeah, well," he huffed. "I gotta feeling if that wrap party hadn't ended the way it did, we would've been fightin' about that for a lot longer."

All she could do was shrug. "You're probably right. I'd had every intention of holding out for as long as I possibly could."

"That sounds about right."

"But you still pay for things," she pointed out lightly. "You pretty much pay _all_ the time. You let me pay for popcorn and soda that _one_ time at the movie theater and that was only because it was under duress."

His light chuckle vibrated against her neck, and she leaned into the sensation, liking the way it felt in between her legs too.

"Besides, we never really _fought_ about me getting on your bike. We had a minor disagreement about it. And that being said," she couldn't believe she was about to open this can of worms, but she kind of wanted to see where it would go. "I don't remember ever saying I _wouldn't_ let you give me your crow."

Now, his shoulders shook with laughter around her back, sending some ripples through the water and the bubbles around them.

"What's so funny?"

That just made his shoulders shake even harder and he dipped his head down to brush his lips against the edge of her shoulder. "Come on, baby. Have you met yourself? I know _exactly_ what you think about gettin' my crow. I'm not surprised, but I _know_."

"Oh really? And what is it that you think you _know_?"

"Lemme see," he chuckled, his tattooed forearm dipping below the water's surface as the hand on her stomach drifted lower. "You think it's like I'm branding you, right? Like I'm tellin' everybody I _own_ you. That you're my _property_. Now, that's basically what it means in the club, but I figure you've got some issues with that because you're you."

"Okay," she allowed. "You're right. So, what, you're gonna try to convince me that it's somehow romantic to put a brand of ownership on someone? Because if you are, don't even bother, Jax."

His shoulders shook with laughter around her, and now she wasn't quite sure she liked the way this conversation was playing out. "No, darlin', I wouldn't dare."

Her head turned so she could narrow her eyes at him. "So what are you saying then?"

"I'm _not_ sayin' I don't want you to have my crow. Because I _do_. I'm just sayin' I realize we might have to find a compromise is all."

"And what's that?"

"Oh, I've got a few ideas," he murmured huskily in her ear as his fingertips skimmed that sweet spot in between her legs. "You're not the kind of old lady this club has ever seen before, baby, and that's okay. Me and you - we're doin' things different. I like to think I'm a different kind of president than the ones that came before me, and I'm good with havin' a different kind of old lady too. I don't give a shit about following every rule and every tradition - not when it comes to you. _We_ get to decide what works for us and what doesn't," he pressed his lips into her neck as his fingertips began a lazy trail up and down that sweet spot, "You bein' my old lady was a non-negotiable for me, but as far as my crow goes, I think I figured out somethin' we'll both be good with."

Her eyes flitted shut at the feel of his fingers tracing their light circles in between her legs, and she turned her head to exhale breathlessly in his ear, "You're not gonna tell me what that is, are you?"

"I'll bring you up to speed when I'm good and ready," he whispered as his movements underneath the water's surface picked up speed. "You like that, baby?"

Her head fell back against his chest as her chin tilted up in the air, her lips parting to sigh, "Yeah."

The other arm wrapped around her waist just pulled her in deeper against his chest. When her head turned to find him, his lips captured her mouth, slipping his tongue through her parted lips as her hips moved with his rhythm in between her legs. She lifted a hand out of the water until it slid behind his neck so she could kiss him deeper and pull him in tighter. Then she just let him carry her away, losing herself in his warmth and his touch, letting the sensations build and mount until she saw stars, tumbling down that black hole, and flying through the air because she knew he could catch her when she came back down.

And when she did come back down, his fingertips traced lazy circles on her skin, teasing out the aftershocks. He muffled his laugh against her shoulder when her hips jerked, sloshing some water around them. Finally, with her body fully relaxed and as soothed as it could possibly be, she slid down the length of his body until her head dipped below the water.

When she came back up for air, his arms tightened around her again, pressing her against his slick chest and leaning into her, dipping her body closer to the water as he hugged her tight.

"I love you," he murmured against her cheek.

Allie turned her head to find his mouth again and whispered into his lips, "I love you too."

She pulled her body closer to the water now, letting her breasts dip down into the bubbles and break through the surface. Maybe it was time for them to move on for the night, so she lifted her hands to grip both edges of the tub, glancing at him from over her shoulder.

"You wanna get out and rinse off?"

He just shrugged, waiting long enough to watch her rise up and gingerly step out onto the mat at the side of the tub. Allie tilted her head to the side a little as she took in the sight of this big, beautiful, soaking wet man lifting himself out of her bathtub, his chest and thighs completely covered in her lavender-scented bubbles. There was something about it that was as sexy as it was endearing. He was here, in her favorite room in the house, after having just given her a toe-curling orgasm surrounded in warmth and fluffy bubbles, and now he was walking toward her, completely naked but covered in lavender foam.

"What?" he quirked an eyebrow at her, even as she reached for his hand to pull him into the shower.

She just smiled back at him. "Nothing."

Allie led him into the wide stand-up shower, closing her eyes at the feel of the cool tile underneath her feet, and then she felt his calloused fingertips brush the top of her shoulders as he stood behind her. She turned the water on, tilting her face up to the shower head as more warm water rained down on her. She could feel it building in the back of her throat, the burning, and the stinging, but she just pushed that down for now, distracting herself by grabbing her shampoo bottle from the shelf built into the wall.

She turned around in the water to find him standing two inches away from her, his navy blue eyes fixed on her, only on her. His lips lifted at the corners as she squeezed some shampoo into the palm of her hand, sudsed it up, and then reached her hands up to start massaging the shampoo through his wet hair.

Jax's lips twisted painfully at her touch, and he squeezed his eyes shut, bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose as his chest lifted and heaved. She didn't want him to cry, and just needed to lighten the moment, so she smiled, ruffling his hair, shampoo and all, and slid her hands up the sides of his head to pull his hair into a spiky mohawk until he finally opened his eyes again to find her laughing at him. He blinked at her once, as if he was having trouble jumping from misery to levity all in the span of two seconds.

Then he lifted his eyebrows in challenge: "You think that's funny, huh?"

"Yes, I do," she laughed.

His hands snaked around her waist to yank her against his chest, and then he hauled her back under the water, laughing as she shrieked when he shook his head like a dog to spray water and shampoo all over her face. He dipped his head into the rain shower again to rinse the rest of the shampoo from his hair, and then he snatched the shampoo off the shelf, this time squirting some in his own hands and rubbing them together.

"Come 'ere, baby," he whispered underneath the shower, reaching out to run his hands over the top of her head. Then he started working the suds through her hair, massaging and kneading gently with his fingertips.

Allie closed her eyes, pushing back that familiar stinging. This was just so achingly intimate, so tender and sweet, and she didn't think she'd be able to keep the tears at bay anymore. She'd tried so hard to keep from outright sobbing in the clubhouse today, just needing to get through it and focus on making sure he had all the information and all his questions answered. But now that part was over, and all that was left was the aftermath. The knowledge that he _knew_ now, and he was still here. Still loving her, supporting her, comforting her.

It wasn't that she thought his feelings for her would change. But she had worried, deep down, that he would treat her differently once he knew, that something would change between them that they'd never get back.

She just hadn't expected _this_. He _was_ treating her differently now. Not handling her with kid gloves, but he was still more tender somehow, as if the love they'd already shared before today just multiplied exponentially and now she was seeing the after-effects of that, his need to take care of her, his desperate hold over his own control and his own tears, his all-encompassing love and devotion for her…she could see it all written across his face for anyone and everyone to see.

In spite of everything, she had _this._

In spite of everything, she had _him_.

Tears welled up in her eyes so she squeezed them shut, acutely aware that his movements in her hair had slowed until his fingertips skimmed down her cheeks to tilt her chin up to him. She forced her eyes open, finding his navy blue eyes watching her, glimmering with his own tears, and she pressed her cheek against his slick chest, letting his strong arms wrap her up in their protection. One of his hands wrapped around the side of her head to tuck her into him.

"It's okay, baby," he murmured, pressing his lips into the side of her forehead. "It's okay."

That just sent a round of sobs through her body, and he held onto her as her shoulders shook against his chest and her tears mingled with the water from their shower. And soon, she felt him trembling right along with her, felt his shoulders shaking with their own grief, their own sobs, and knew that her tears were now mixed with his.

She didn't know how long they stood there underneath the water like that, with their arms wrapped around each other, clinging to each other like their lives depended on it, their bodies racked with sobs.

And finally, the warmth and the protection and the safety she found in his arms calmed her tears until she just pressed her cheek into his chest and squeezed her eyes shut. Thoroughly exhausted. Thoroughly spent. Thoroughly loved.

Allie pulled her face away from his chest to tilt her head up at him. His face was still twisted with grief and devastation, but there was some relief mixed in there as well, like holding her this way and crying with her this way had done him some good too. His eyes still swam with tears, but then his lips lifted at the corners as he dipped her head back into the shower so he could rinse the rest of the shampoo from her hair.

When she straightened her neck, his lips crashed down on hers, taking possession of them as his tongue broke through her parted lips. As his mouth moved over hers, he backed them up until her back hit the cooled tile walls, and one of his hands shot out to the wall above her head to steady them. She hitched a leg around his hip, sighing into his mouth when his free hand slid around her thigh to bring her hips even closer to him.

And just when she felt the tip of him press inside her, her right foot slipped on the tile, nearly sending them both crashing down to the shower floor.

"Shit!" Jax cried out, grasping desperately for her hips to keep her upright. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she laughed as she wrapped an arm around his neck. "I'm okay."

He huffed out an exasperated laugh and promptly shut the water off. "Fuck this shit. We'll try that again some other day."

Then he ran his hands through his soaking wet hair before dipping his head down to shake his head back and forth again, spraying her in the face.

"Stop it, Jax," she laughed. "You jerk!"

He stopped just long enough to squint at her through the water streaming down his face with one eye open, a cocky smirk twisting his lips. "You love it."

"Shut up."

Now, he slicked his wet hair back with both hands and scrubbed the water from his face, then his hands closed around her hips to shift her just enough so he could give her a gentle push out of the shower. He was right on her heels and the second they were both standing outside the shower, she turned around to face him, only for him to haul her up against his chest, lifting her feet off the ground so she could wrap her legs around his waist. Their lips collided again as he walked them through the bathroom, then the hallway, pushing through her bedroom door, and falling on top of her on their bed.

Now they were just tangled limbs and frantic kisses, until he tore his lips away from her mouth, meeting her in the eye just once and just long enough for her to see the tenderness and the determination shining in them.

Jax leaned down, stopping just short of her lips, and he murmured, "Baby?"

"Yeah?"

He tipped his head down to whisper against her lips, "These are yours," and then his mouth sealed over her lips again, kissing her deeply and passionately, letting her feel everything he felt, and showing her everything he wanted her to see.

"Thank you for letting me kiss them," he smiled against her mouth.

Then his lips moved to the side of her jaw, leaving gentle caresses in their wake to travel down the side of her neck, over her collarbone, drinking up the droplets of water on her skin, until his lips closed over her right nipple, sucking it in and flicking it with his tongue. Her back arched off the bed at the heady contact, but he didn't stop there - his mouth dragged over to her left breast, kissing around the skin until his lips sucked in that nipple, flicking it tortuously again with his tongue.

"These are yours, baby," he murmured as he brushed his nose against her nipple. "Thank you for letting me touch them and kiss them and suck them."

With that, his mouth continued its journey down the rest of her body, lingering on her skin, sending prickles and shivers of heat from her stomach to that spot he was heading for right in between her legs. And as his lips dragged gently over her skin, tears pricked the back of her eyes. She sucked in a harsh breath, suddenly so overwhelmed and so overcome with what he was doing, what he was giving back to her, that she almost felt like she couldn't breathe.

"Jax," she called out desperately.

His head jerked up at the sound of her voice, even though he was about two inches away from where she really wanted him to be. "What? You okay?"

She laughed in spite of everything, maybe even in spite of herself, and in spite of the heat pooling in between her legs. "You're gonna make me cry again. I don't know if I wanna do that."

Jax's lips lifted as he eyed her with his careful, loving gaze. "You need to cry, you can cry. You need to scream, go ahead and scream, baby."

"I don't wanna do either of those things right now."

"You want me to stop?"

A laugh burst from her throat and she shook her head furiously, her hands curling around the comforter on the bed. "No. Don't stop."

He smirked at her from his vantage point as he slipped a hand underneath her thigh to hitch it over his shoulder before dipping his nose to touch the slick skin waiting for him in between her legs. His eyes lifted back to her with a sexy grin twisting his lips, "Hey, you wanna know what else is yours?"

She already knew the answer, but played along, exhaling breathlessly, "What's that?"

Jax kept his eyes on her as he leaned in, flicking his tongue against that sweet spot, dragging it up and down lazily before twisting it around in a circle, torturing her with those movements that sent sparks flying between them.

Then he pressed one light kiss there before murmuring, "This is yours, baby. All fuckin' yours. Thank you for letting me taste it and lick it and -"

"Fuck it?" she offered breathlessly as her back arched off against the bed again.

He muffled his laugh against her skin, dipping his nose into her warm folds again. "Yeah. That too. You want me to do that right now or…?"

"Why don't you suck me off first and then we'll get to that in a second."

"Just a second?" he chuckled, his eyes sparkling with amusement as he watched her writhe and lift her hips underneath him.

"That's pretty much all it's gonna take," Allie sighed breathlessly, lifting her hips again to prompt him to keep going.

He huffed out an amused laugh against her, which only made her back arch against the bed again. "I'm happy to be at your service, baby, even if it's just for a second."

"Shut up, and do it."

Jax's eyes flashed, those navy eyes slipping into darkness again as his lips curled into a sexy smirk. Then he dipped his head back down, taking her in between his lips and sucking that spot into his mouth, rolling over it again and again with his tongue, sending sparks shooting through her entire body. Her hands drifted down toward his head, but she pulled back abruptly, remembering.

"Jax?" she exhaled breathlessly, looking down as his mouth lifted away from her body. He lifted his eyebrows expectantly, waiting patiently for her to ask him whatever she needed to say. "Can I…"

Her hands reached down, gesturing toward his head and his wet hair, and he caught her meaning almost instantly, his mouth curling knowingly as he rested his cheek against the inside of her thigh.

"Baby, you can do whatever you want."

"I know," she frowned down at him. "But I said I didn't want you to…to put your hands there when I'm doing this for you, and it's not fair if I -"

"Allie," Jax cut in with a smirk. "As long as your lips are wrapped around my cock, I don't give a shit where my hands are. When I've got my mouth on this sweet pussy, you can put your hands anywhere you want. If you wanna put your hands in my hair, if that feels good, if you like it, do it, baby. You don't need to ask my permission."

"But what if I want to…" she trailed off, searching for the right words, so she decided to just show him instead. She threaded her fingers through his wet hair and gently pressed down so his face was right in between her legs, muffling his laugh as he dropped a light kiss there again.

She closed her eyes at the sensation, only opening them again when she heard his husky voice below her.

"I think I like that just as much as you do."

Allie glanced down at him with happy surprise. "Really?"

"Oh yeah," he smirked up at her again from between her legs. "It's fuckin' hot."

"Okay," she exhaled, letting her fingertips work their way through his hair again, placing some gentle pressure on his head so he could dip back down. "Back to work, Jax."

His laughter was muffled against her skin again, but he obliged her. It took more than a second, but between the feeling of his tongue running up and down, his warm breath kissing her, the feeling of his wet hair in between her hands, pulling him in even deeper, the way his tongue pressed lightly against her, giving her just the right amount of pressure, and then when his tongue dragged her around in one more circle, she was flying down that black hole again as her hips jerked into his hands, and the waves crashed into her.

Jax pressed one more gentle kiss in between her legs before lifting his head up and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He shot her a sexy smirk, quirking his eyebrows up suggestively. Just as he started to move up her body, she planted her foot on his chest to halt his movements, pushing him back until he was standing on the floor. He waited there, giving her that space, letting her call the shots, and the tenderness in his eyes still hadn't dissipated.

There was something else she wanted now, and she knew he would do it for her. It had been on her mind ever since she got home from the clubhouse, and it had crossed her mind again during her run, and again in the tub. She knew it was just a matter of asking for it because he wouldn't do it on his own. At least not tonight. She knew him well enough by now to know that. And, for both their sakes, it made the most sense to have a conversation about it beforehand.

"Jax," she started softly, smiling at the way his eyes darkened. "I want you to fuck me now."

His head dipped down into a tight nod, and when he took a step closer to her, she just pressed a hand into his chest to slow him down.

"I want you to do it with me on my hands and knees," Allie whispered. She didn't miss the way his eyes widened and jumped to explain: "I haven't done that in a really long time. You know what I mean?"

Jax swallowed tightly, his chest rising and falling a little more rapidly now, but he still nodded. Of course he understood, but she needed to make sure this was clear between them right now. She wasn't going to put her face down into the comforter, and she wasn't going to ask him to hold her there. She didn't want to do that and knew he wouldn't want to either. That wasn't what this was about.

This was about taking something else back, and taking it back with him. She wanted them both to know that they could have sex this way, that it wasn't off-limits, that they could enjoy each other without worry and without hesitation, that he could do what he wanted with her body because she wanted him to.

"I don't want you to be gentle, Jax," she murmured, letting her hand slide up his chest and feeling it rise and fall with stuttered movements.

His eyes pinned into her, studying her face carefully, but the rest of him was still as stone - save for the way his chest heaved against her palm.

They'd had rough sex before, but not like this, not the kind she was asking for, and he seemed to realize that right around the time his eyebrows lifted into his forehead. She had a pretty good feeling he'd planned on some slow, gentle love-making tonight, and that was all fine and good - but later. That wasn't what she wanted from him right now.

"Don't hold back, okay?" she instructed with a light smile, and that smile only deepened when he frowned at her. "I'm not gonna break. And I want you to know that. Do what you want…please."

Jax held still, his feet rooted into the carpet. Deep lines creased his forehead and his chest only seemed to heave more rapidly now, rising and falling like he barely had a handle on his control.

And finally, his voice rumbled lowly in his throat, "Define _do what you want._ "

Her lips curled into a soft grin as she moved up to her knees on the edge of the bed, reaching out to pull him in until his knees were flush with the bed so she could wrap an arm around his neck. His hands closed around her hips, pulling her against him ever so slightly.

"Just do whatever you want, Jax. I want you to."

He blew out an exasperated breath, his face twisting a little desperately. "No, Allie, I really need you to tell me what that means. Fuckin' spell it out if you have to, but you gotta give me a better idea of what you really want here. I'll give it to you, baby. I will. I just wanna make sure I understand what you really want me to do."

So, now it was back on her, and that was fair. She knew what she wanted him to do, and it probably wasn't fair of her to give him such vague, wide-reaching instructions in the first place. He needed specifics. That was good, and it mattered to her that he'd hit the brakes here too. That he needed her to be clear. It said just as much about him and the way he felt about her than anything else he could ever say or do.

"I want you to be rough," Allie told him quietly, moving her hands from his shoulders to his face. "Really rough is okay. It might be better than okay."

He nodded tightly, a hard line ticking down his jaw.

"I want you to go fast - so fast that after we come, it takes us five minutes to catch our breath."

He nodded again, but this time the side of his mouth lifted at the corner.

"I want to feel…" she trailed off again, searching for the right words, and then she just came out with it: "I want you to be in control. We'll both know that it's because I gave it to you, because I want you to have it this time. I want you to touch me anywhere, say anything you want, do anything you want - grab me, pull me, whip me around, I don't care. If you don't want me on my hands and knees the whole time, that's okay. I just want you behind me. That's important to me this time. I just…I want to feel consumed by you, Jax."

That was the heart of it, really. That was what she really wanted.

His eyes were almost pitch-black. His chest heaved against her skin, rising and falling so rapidly now she was a little worried about his heart. His gaze pinned right through her, holding her onto the bed, holding her still.

Then he spoke again, murmuring hoarsely, "What about your hair? Can I put my hands in your hair? On your head?"

Her lips curved into a soft smile and she nodded. "When we're having sex? Yes. I want that. I want you to do that. Especially this time."

Jax nodded again, but his movements were more controlled, more focused now. He cocked an eyebrow at her as his tongue rolled over his bottom lip. "Can I pull it? Would you like that?"

Her chest warmed and tightened at those heady words, and she felt her own breath coming in and out more rapidly now. "Yeah. I think I would like that."

Pretty much the only thing she _didn't_ want him to do was shove her face into the bed and hold her down, but she had a feeling she didn't have to say that out loud. He knew that already. And judging by the heat filling his dark eyes, he knew exactly what she wanted him to do.

"Is that enough?" she whispered breathlessly. "Or do you need more?"

His mouth curled into a devastatingly sexy smirk, and she almost had to squeeze her legs together at the sight. "I think I got it now, baby. But if I do somethin' you don't like or don't want, you gotta tell me right away. I promise I'll stop, but I won't know unless you tell me."

"I know," she told him, tracing her fingertips down his cheek and smiling when his eyes closed at her touch. "If it's too much, or too deep, or something I don't like, I'll tell you. But I trust you, Jax. You trust me too, right?"

He didn't hesitate, nodding immediately underneath her touch, his eyes dark and black and practically glazed over now.

"I wanna have some fun with you. And I wanna do it with you in control because that's what I want. I don't need you to be gentle with me right now, Jax. I just need _you_."

Jax's jaw ticked down a hard line, but his lips lifted again at the corners, his eyes dropping down to her lips. "Alright, baby. Let's have some fun."

Her heart leapt into her throat when his calloused fingertips skimmed around her waist and gave her a gentle shove to push her back onto the bed. In a flash, his hands were on her hips again, flipping her around, and jerking her hips backward until they hit the hard length behind her.

"Hands on the bed, baby," he murmured, waiting until she did as she was told and then moved forward so he could kneel on the bed behind her.

A sharp thrill shot through her when his hand threaded through her wet hair, yanking her up to press her back against his chest with _just_ enough pressure to be rough, but not hurt her. He'd already found the balance she'd trusted him to find, and now she was practically shaking with anticipation for whatever he was going to do next.

His free arm snaked across her stomach, holding her against his chest even tighter as the hand threaded through her hair pulled her neck back just a touch so he could lean into her ear.

"Let's get a few things clear here," his deep, hoarse voice filled the thick air between them, "I'm gonna fuck you so hard you forget your name. You're a bad girl, baby - _my_ bad girl, and that's what bad girls get."

She sucked in a harsh breath, her heart thundering in her chest as the hand in her hair tightened and pulled until her head fell against his shoulder. His lips closed around her neck, leaving a hot trail around the side of her jaw, turning her head with the hand in her hair and then capturing her mouth with his lips. His tongue demanded entry into her mouth, and her lips parted to give him the access he wanted, letting his tongue spread through her mouth, taking what she was giving him.

Then he abruptly pulled his mouth away so he could murmur against her lips, "You don't come until I say you can come. Got that, baby? I wanna hear you say it."

"Yes," she exhaled breathlessly.

"Yes, what?"

Allie turned her head to find his eyes slicing into her with heat and smoke. "I'll come when you say I can come."

He chuckled into her neck, moving his lips up and down again before murmuring, "Good girl."

His hand slipped out of her hair, giving her another gentle shove until her hands hit the bed in front of her again. Then she felt both of his hands close around her hips, yanking her against his hard cock, and then, before she could recover from _that_ , he slipped inside her in one long, hard purposeful thrust.

Her eyes shot open wide at the delicious sensation of him sliding into her from behind. Oh God, it felt so good. Was this what she'd been missing for the last 13 years? She could have been feeling this way the whole time? Maybe it was just him. She _knew_ it was him. He was just already hitting _that spot_ right at the top inside of her, and it felt too good. Too fucking good. And he hadn't even done anything else yet.

As if he could read her thoughts, his soft voice floated out from behind her, "You like that, baby? Feel good?"

"Yes," she groaned, dropping her head in between her arms as her hips pressed down, pushing him inside her even harder, deeper. "Jax, it feels so good," she almost felt like crying now it felt so good, "Oh my _God,_ it feels good."

That was all he needed to hear. His hands dug into the skin around her hips, bringing them back against him one more time before he unleashed. His movements were raw and primal, and he didn't stop, driving inside her over and over again with the kind of wild abandon that both shocked and thrilled her, hitting the top of her so hard, and so rough, that her vision blurred.

Then she felt his hand on her back again, pushing her down and deeper into the bed, and then his hoarse voice, "Elbows on the bed."

She dropped to her elbows and he jerked her ass higher into the air, giving him better, deeper access.

"Lean into it, baby," he told her, gently pushing against her back again to coax her hips higher in the air. "Yeah, just like that."

And now, each drive inside her was a little different than the one before. Sometimes it was short and quick, sometimes it was long and hard, but each time, her mouth opened wider at all the intense sensations flooding her body and her eyes squeezed shut as it overwhelmed and overtook her one thrust at a time.

"Harder, Jax," she sighed, turning her head to make sure he heard her. " _Harder_."

He didn't hesitate, driving into her so hard her head bumped into the bed. "Like that, baby? Is that what you want?"

"Yes," she groaned, unable to stop the sounds coming out of her mouth now. "Don't stop."

He paused just long enough to readjust her hips so she was almost completely crouched into the bed with her elbows planted underneath her chest and her ass high in the air. Then he picked up his speed again, driving into her harder and harder each time, until her mouth lobbed open again at the sensation and her hands gripped the comforter underneath her until her knuckles turned white.

"Oh fuck," he breathed out from behind her. "So good, baby. So fuckin' good."

Even through the fog he'd dropped her in, the sound of his voice still cut through everything else. She didn't know how it was possible that, while his movements inside her body were so raw and so rough they skirted right along the edge between pleasure and pain, his voice was still tender and soft, as if he couldn't let himself be rough with her _that_ way. He could do what he wanted with her body, but his hoarse, almost strangled voice still carried the love and the respect and the devotion she knew he had for her.

And with that thought, sparks flew through her, threatening to drive her all the way over to tumble down that black hole.

"Jax, I'm gonna come."

"No, you're not," he grunted back.

That didn't abate the tunnel she found herself barreling toward. "Yes, I am. I'm gonna come."

Suddenly, he abruptly jerked his hips back, drawing his hard cock out of her body, leaving her gasping at the loss.

"Jax!" Allie cried out, looking frantically over her shoulder at him only to find him smirking darkly back at her. "What are you doing?"

"I told you baby," he whispered sexily. "You don't come until _I_ say you can come."

All she could do was huff out a laugh and let her head drop down to her elbows again. Then his hand was in her hair again, gently pulling her up until her back hit his naked chest. Her head dropped back onto his shoulder as she exhaled another exasperated laugh.

"This is mean, Jax."

"Like I fucking care."

A laugh erupted from her throat, even as the hand in her hair turned her head so his mouth could descend on her lips, taking ownership of them one more time. And, as his tongue pushed through her parted lips, he slipped inside her body again, his free arm snaking across her stomach to press her even deeper against his chest so she was all but sitting on his thighs with her back pressed against him.

He drove inside her again, and again, each time harder and deeper than the first, and then finally, mercifully, his lips dropped to her ear, "Come for me, baby."

That was all it took to push her over the edge, to fling her out into that dark oblivion with only shooting stars bursting through her vision. The back of her legs quivered against his thighs as her head fell to his shoulder, the rest of her body succumbing to the waves crashing into her until she shook and jerked against his chest. And as she floated down, gasping and sucking in air, his arms squeezed around her as he buried his face against her neck, his body stiffening behind her and then jerking once, then one more time before his shoulders sagged with relief.

As her chest heaved and her lungs gasped for air, she really did think it might take her five minutes to catch her breath. This was worse than when she came home from her run today. And for a second there, she thought she really _did_ forget her name. Jax's forehead hit the back of her shoulder as he pulled her tighter against him, hugging her to his chest. He didn't seem to be having any easier time catching his breath than she did.

He blew out a deep breath, and then pulled himself out of her body, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her shoulder before letting her collapse on the bed. She fell back against the blankets, her chest still heaving for air, and then he tumbled down to the bed next to her, hitching one of her legs over his hip.

Allie turned her head to find his navy blue eyes glimmering with sated exhaustion and more than a little bit of victory. She laughed breathlessly, reaching out to bring a hand to his cheek.

"You know," she told him in between gasps for breath. "I take back what I said about our first time. _That_ was the best. The best I've ever had in my life."

Jax just huffed out a laugh, his mouth twisting with triumph and pride, and then he squinted one eye shut and then the other. "I'm kinda havin' trouble seein' outta my left eye right now."

She just laughed, leaning in to brush her lips against his mouth. "That's good, right?"

"Better than good," he smirked at her. "I don't know…seein' you on your hands and knees like that did somethin' for me I wasn't expecting."

Her lips curled into a happy smile. "I'm kinda thinking we need to do that every night."

Jax just barked out a laugh, snaking out a hand to bring her in even closer. "Well, all I gotta say is it's a good thing you're on the pill, darlin', because I'm pretty damn sure what we just did, and the _way_ we did it… _that_ is how babies are made."

"Oh God," she laughed, shaking her head at him. "I don't think _that's_ really how it works."

He shrugged easily. "It might be for us."

Allie was still laughing as he leaned in so he could press a soft kiss into her lips, quieting her laugh, and bringing a little bit more tenderness back to this moment.

"Hey, you hungry?" he murmured against her lips. "I don't know about you, but I really worked up an appetite just now."

"Pizza?"

He nodded instantly with a wide grin. "Pizza."

* * *

Allie snickered a little as Jax grabbed his fourth piece of pizza and took a big bite. He was well on his way to finishing off the whole thing - he really hadn't been kidding about working up an appetite. When his eyes dropped disapprovingly one more time to her bra and underwear, shaking his head as he chewed, she just snickered again.

He'd thrown his boxer briefs back on when he ran downstairs to get their pizza at the front door, but had been _very_ unhappy to see that, when he got back to their bedroom, she'd put a bra and underwear on. The fact that she'd been careful to pick something sort of see-through and lacy hadn't been enough to deter his unhappiness.

Now, he lifted his eyebrows at her expectantly. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," she just shrugged.

He shot her a wary side-eye and then took another big bite. "You know, I was just thinkin'...I can't remember the last time I did this."

"Did what?"

"Ate pizza in bed like this - or anything in bed. After I got outta Stockton, beds were just sorta more functional for me than anything, you know? They had a few important purposes, sure, but mainly my bed in my dorm was just there for me to pass out in after getting drunk off my ass in the clubhouse. I kinda forgot how much fun this can be."

"Hmm," she smiled softly. "I think I did too."

He winked at her as he polished off the piece of pizza in his hand, and then reached into the box for another one. There was a question right on the tip of her tongue, but she wasn't quite sure if this was the time or the place to ask it. They'd never really talked about _that_ before, but now, in light of everything that had happened between them, she had a feeling she could ask him just about anything she wanted, and he'd answer her honestly and directly.

"Hey, Jax?"

His lips lifted at the corners at the sound of her voice. "Yeah, baby?"

She sucked in a deep breath, and just came out with it. "What was it like? Being there?"

Jax quirked an eyebrow at her. "In Stockton?"

"Yeah. I can't imagine it was easy."

His eyes dropped down to their pizza box, and then he set the piece of pizza in his hand back in the box and wiped his hands with a slight shake of his head. "No, it wasn't easy. Six months - it doesn't seem very long when you're on the outside, just comin' and goin' and livin' your life the way you always have, but on the inside…every _day_ feels like a month."

She'd been well aware when she first started working for the club that five of its members had gotten sentenced to Stockton about eight months before, and the charges that had put them there, Jax included, were gun-related. At the time, she hadn't dug into the details, even though they were readily available in court records, because she just hadn't wanted to know. Hadn't felt like she really needed to know anyway.

Allie was already aware who she was signing up to work for, what they did, who they were, and she hadn't needed any additional evidence to convince her that working for the club held some danger. That the people she would be working for, including her former step-brother, were convicted criminals who engaged in illegal activity on a regular basis.

They were trying to change that. She knew it better than anyone. But still…they were who they were, and it was what it was.

And now, here she was, with one of those convicted criminals in her bed. Not to mention the fact that she was very much in _love_ with that convicted criminal. She'd certainly never anticipated _this_ when she first agreed to work for the club.

It was a huge risk, on so many levels. But it was a risk she'd also taken with both eyes open, even if the reality wasn't quite as clear as it was becoming now.

"It's kinda like time stands still when you're in there," Jax was saying now. "And you don't really know if an hour or a week has passed. And, I'm not gonna lie, Allie, it was dangerous for us in there. It wasn't just the fact that the Nords prez was a cell block away from us - it was everyone else too that was a threat, the guards included. Now, thinkin' back on it, and just how _every day_ I woke up wonderin' if that was the day someone was gonna come at me…it kinda feels like a miracle only one of us got hit, instead of all of us."

It was right on the tip of her tongue to ask him what was going to happen now. She felt certain, _more_ than certain, that the club had come to the same conclusion she did - that they couldn't take any information their private investigator had given them as legitimate or real. Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn't. But she didn't know where all this left the club in terms of finding their former president's murderer.

No one needed to tell her what they'd planned to do with him if they found him. An outlaw motorcycle club didn't hire a private investigator to find the man who shivved their former president in prison just so they could give him a beating. Maybe that was one thing she _had_ turned a blind eye to because it really wasn't any of her business, and it had happened long before the club offered her a job.

The fact she was even skating this line of morality…that she had even been willing to look the other way _then_ , long before the prospect of her and Jax as a couple was even a possibility…she wasn't quite sure how to feel about it. Didn't know what that said about her as a human being either.

But that question died on her lips. If she asked it, he just might feel compelled to tell her what they also planned to do with their private investigator, now that they knew who he really was, and _what_ he was. She wasn't so sure she wanted to know.

Now, almost as if he had a pretty good idea where her mind had just drifted off too, she felt his fingertips underneath her chin to tilt her face up to him.

"Allie," he told her softly. "I'm never going back there, okay? I'm just not."

Her shoulders sagged and all she could do was shake her head at him. "Please don't make me a promise you might not be able to keep. We both know it's not out of the realm of possibility - at least right now."

Jax blew out a heavy sigh, scrubbed his face with his hands, and then when his eyes found her again, he rolled over until he could tuck her underneath his arm and hold her close to his chest.

"Alright," he murmured against her cheek. "That's fair. But I _will_ promise you that I'll do everything I can to keep myself out of there. Is that better?"

She nodded, letting her nose brush back and forth against his face. And now, with his strong arms wrapped protectively around her, it felt like the right time. They could talk about it. This was okay.

"You know," she smiled, dipping her head down to press her forehead into his cheek. "I was just thinking about what a risk this is for me - being with you."

Jax pulled his head back a little so he could look her in the eye. "What does that mean, Allie?"

She smiled again, letting one of her fingertips trace down his cheek. "Not what you're thinking, at least not _exactly_. I understand that there are…physical risks in being with you. I also understand that you would do everything in your power to keep anything from happening to me."

The second those words fell from her lips, she realized just how true they were. If he had a bigger target on his back than anyone else in the club, then so did she. There was no getting around it - as the president's old lady, she'd be more visible than any other woman in the clubhouse, Gemma included. There were certain risks that came with that too. And she really did believe, with everything she had, that he would throw himself in front of a wall of bullets if he had to, if that would keep her safe.

He already had.

Jax nodded then, even though he was still frowning down at her.

"I'm talking about the emotional risks and all the ways I could get hurt. Well, _could've_ gotten hurt by you. When I first moved to LA, I started seeing a therapist who - let's just say I didn't really see eye to eye with."

She laughed a little at that, but the frown on Jax's face only deepened. His arms tightened around her as he leaned in to brush his lips against the side of her forehead.

"It took me a little while to admit I needed to talk to someone," she sighed heavily. "I was having trouble sleeping, and in the end, my sleep deprivation won out over my pride."

"Do you still have trouble sleeping?"

"Sometimes," Allie smiled softly. "But not so much lately."

His head dipped up and down in a subtle nod as his lips lifted at the corners before he brushed them against her forehead again. "Me too, baby."

"All I really wanted from her was a prescription for Ambien or something, you know?" she laughed at the memory. "I didn't really want to sit in her office and talk about my feelings. I knew what I felt, _how_ I felt and why, and I didn't need to pay some shrink $300 an hour to tell me what I thought I already knew."

He huffed out a light laugh, but his arms still tightened around her.

"But I did the thing she wanted me to do, and she didn't like that I only talked to her in generalities, not the specifics of what had happened and why. She told me I wasn't being honest with myself. That I wasn't really going to be able to heal until I said the things I didn't want to say. And that, while a healthy risk here and there was okay, the coping mechanisms I'd chosen _weren't_ healthy."

"How were you coping?"

She just lifted a shoulder. "She said that because I wasn't properly handling my _trauma_ \- which was also a word I didn't like hearing - I was becoming more prone to workaholic tendencies and antisocial behavior, not to mention my alcohol aversion, as she described it, and that I was using sexual promiscuity as a replacement for real intimacy."

Jax's eyebrows lifted in surprise, and she laughed at his reaction.

"I did not care for that, as I'm sure you can imagine."

"I'll bet," he smiled back at her.

"So I took my prescription for Ambien, and was all like, _fuck you, Dr. Stephenson, you don't know me_. And then I just sort of kept doing what I was doing because it worked for me. It was easier to lose myself in school and only deal with the opposite sex when I wanted an orgasm, and then it was _really_ easy in law school, and then, after I graduated, my habits were my habits, you know?"

He nodded again, lifting one of the arms around her waist so he could touch his thumb to her chin. "Allie, you're the strongest person I've ever met. I have no idea how you managed to just pick up the way you did and start over and just keep _going_. You didn't let it own you, baby. You went after the life you wanted and you just kept _going_. I'm so fucking proud of you for that...I don't know if I'll be able to find the words to explain it to you."

"I know what you mean," she smiled softly. "But I think, over these last few weeks with you, I think I've started to realize that Dr. Stephenson was actually right. Maybe her bedside manner could use some work, but she was _right_ about me. I just wasn't ready to hear it. Wasn't ready to say it. And, Jax, I think...I feel like telling you today, really describing it from start to finish, I feel a little bit like that set me free. I think I _needed_ to say it, and to you, specifically."

His lips lifted at the corners again, loving her, supporting her, understanding her. All the things she'd always needed but had just never wanted to admit.

"I see now that some of the things I was doing, some of the choices I made…" she explained. "Maybe it was okay for a certain period of time to just get through it, but those never should've become long-term habits. I was just sort of moving from day to day, working for my dad, focused on that work, and then I'd come home and have dinner with Dan, and pull up that dating app on my phone whenever I felt like it. And that was pretty much it."

Jax nodded again, his eyes filling with understanding and support.

"That's not to say I was really unhappy or anything, but I think I just didn't realize how much I was just existing through my life until recently. And one thing Dr. Stephenson did say that really stuck with me was that I shouldn't be afraid to take a risk, to put myself out there to get hurt because life is meant to be _felt_ , not just lived. At the time, I laughed and told her that was bullshit."

His lips curled into a sexy smirk as he tipped his chin to her in understanding.

"And I think what I've realized," she told him gently, "is that all these habits I'd fallen into were really just risk-aversion. To keep everything and everyone that could hurt me at arms' length. The only people I ever really let in were my dad, Dan, and Ope, and that was really because they didn't give me much of a choice, you know? If Ope hadn't called me through the years and kept tabs on me, kept inviting me to things, kept me in his life…we probably would go years without speaking and I probably would've been okay with that because I've always just preferred to be alone anyway. I mean, how many adults do you know that can honestly say they only have _one_ friend? Dan is the best friend I could've ever asked for, but he's really the only one I have. That's just not normal, Jax."

His lips quirked a little. "I don't count?"

"You and I were never friends, Jax," Allie huffed out a laugh. "Not in high school, not after, and definitely not when we first started working together."

"What about now?"

She lifted her eyebrows at him. "We're friends, sure, but we're not just friends who also sleep together. There was always something more between us and you know that."

"I guess that's fair."

Allie just smiled back at him. "What I'm _trying_ to say here is that I didn't realize what I'd done to myself, how I was holding myself back, how I was just sort of existing, until that day I walked into my dad's office and there you were - sitting in that chair like you owned the place, wearing that president patch like a flag, glaring at me like my very presence in that room pissed you off, and my heart just kind of went, _oh, there you are_. I think I hated you on sight because of it."

He swallowed hard, his eyes swimming even as his lips curled into a knowing grin.

"So being with you…that's a real risk for me. To willingly put myself in a position where I could just get completely obliterated by you. And I think now we both have a better understanding of why. And it's a calculated risk though, right? To just let myself feel this way because after a certain point, you became the one thing that was actually _worth_ the risk. That was worth the potential pain and the crushing heartbreak. That thing I couldn't live without. I _feel_ every second of every day that we've spent together, and I think that's why I spiralled the way I did that day we fought in my office. I feel _everything_ when I'm with you, and it's been a really long time since I've let myself do that. But I don't care about that risk anymore because being with you, Jax.. .you've helped me actually _feel_ my life again instead of just living it."

His eyes filled again and he jerked the hand away from her cheek to pinch the bridge of his nose, rolling onto his back and tucking her against his chest. His beautiful face twisted with everything she'd already seen there today - love, devastation, pain, heartbreak, disbelief...it was all there. And she knew he felt all those things right now because of the way he _felt_ when he was with her.

Suddenly, though, his hand fell away from his face, and his eyes dropped to her, studying her carefully, memorizing this moment with his eyebrows knitted together in concentration. Then he leaned in, pressing his lips into her mouth, deepening the kiss as he rolled on top of her, grinding his hips, and the hardness she found there, in between her legs until she sighed against his mouth.

"I don't know how to explain the way I feel right now, Allie," he murmured into her cheek. "So I'm just gonna show you instead. Is that okay?"

Her lips curled into a smile against his mouth as she nodded, and then he didn't waste any time. His fingers slid down her sides, slipping underneath her panties to push them to her thighs before he whipped them down her calves and sent them flying in the air. She laughed against his lips, even as he raised her arms up so he could pull her bra over her head before tossing that over his shoulder. He didn't give her a chance to even move her hands toward his boxer briefs because he was already kicking them off by the time her fingers brushed his hips.

"I love you," he murmured against her lips. "Everything I am, everything I wanna be, everything I'm _gonna_ be, it's all yours, Allie."

And before she could recover from _that_ , he slipped inside her, so gently, and so tenderly, tears pricked her eyes. His lips left a trail down her neck as his movements, slow and passionate, carried her away again. He lifted his head away from her neck to meet her in the eye, and she smiled when she saw that his navy blue eyes were swimming with tears too. It wasn't just her that felt her life when she was with him - she knew that. He didn't need to tell her that. She was perfectly content to have him show her that instead.

As her hands slid up his back, his hips moved against her with more purpose than before, like if he could just hit the right spot, over and over again, then she would know what he couldn't find the words to say, even if she didn't need that from him. He was going to give it to her anyway.

"I know, Jax," she whispered in his ear. "I love you too."

That only spurred him on, his movements grinding against her with more determination, and she let him show her his love for her, his faith in her, his trust in her, and everything else he didn't have the words to say.

* * *

Allie stirred in her sleep the next morning, sighing through that lingering exhaustion that could only be brought on by the night she'd just had. She wasn't sure what time they'd actually passed out in bed because all sense of time had just sort of disappeared with him last night. The arm slung across her waist tightened reflexively as she smiled into her pillow. There was no way she wanted to get up yet, but maybe they had some time before her alarm would go off.

And just as she started to reach for her phone on her nightstand to check the time, Jax groaned alongside her, pulling her back to him, "Don't even think about it."

"Come on," she laughed. "I just want to see what time it is."

"Uh huh, so you can get up and get ready for work? No way, baby."

Allie laughed into her pillow again as Jax reached around her, snatched her phone off her nightstand, promptly switched it on silent, and then tossed it into her closet. Then he rolled over, planting one muscled arm at the side of her head so he could stare down at her with sleepy, hooded blue eyes.

"You can go in late one day, Allie," he smirked down at her. "Nobody is gonna care if you don't show up on time today, especially not your dad. Just gimme a couple more hours."

"And what will you do with these hours, should I decide to give them to you?"

A cocky grin spread across his handsome face, and he proved his point by dipping his hips against her ever so slightly. "For one, you've already decided you're gonna give 'em to me. You're just playin' hard to get right now 'cuz it's a cute little game you like to play with me - and I'm only sayin' it's _cute_ 'cuz it's cute you think you can win. And two - there's a certain number of times I wanna make you come before I let you outta this bed, and we haven't hit that number yet, baby."

She narrowed her eyes at him from over her shoulder, but he just leaned in, with his arm still planted next to her head, and his growing erection pressing against her ass.

"And how many times is that?" she said futilely. She knew he wasn't about to tell her, but it was worth a shot.

"Well," he smirked down at her, grinding his hips against her again just for good measure. "How many have there been so far, Allie? I know you didn't lose count."

She laughed into her pillow, letting her eyes flit shut at the sensations coming from behind her. "Does the tub count?"

"Sure."

Alright, so in the tub. On her bed, with his head in between her legs. On her hands and knees with him behind her. On her back, practically on top of the pizza box. On her hands and knees again a little bit after that, nowhere as rough and hard as the first time but still just as much fun. And one more time on her back, against the pillows, sweetly and gently before they passed out wrapped around each other. So that was…

"Six."

His eyebrows lifted suggestively as his lips curled into a sexy smirk. "Sounds about right. I'm not done yet though. Just gimme a couple more hours, and I'll get it."

"You're crazy."

"Damn right, baby," he laughed, leaning down to brush his lips against her neck, with his upper body still propped up by his muscular arms, and ground his hips against her ass again, murmuring, "You ever done it like this before?"

She was too distracted by his movements to really register his question. "Hmm?"

"On your side," he murmured against her lips, "from behind."

All she could do was shake her head, already too turned on by the very _idea_ , let alone the actual act itself.

"That's what I thought," Jax whispered in her ear. "Wanna give it a try? See if you like it as much as you like it on your hands and knees?"

"Only if you promise to go easy on me," she huffed out a laugh, even as he ground his hips into her again and leaned in to let his lips leave a trail down her neck. "I may not be able to walk into my office today if you keep this up."

"Hey, you just hop onto my back and I'll give ya a piggy-back ride all the way to your office if I have to," he grinned down at her. "I guess I really did go for it that first time, huh?"

"As was requested."

Jax huffed out a laugh, not missing the opportunity to hover over her again with one arm propped up on the mattress by her head, and sent his free hand down her back, drifting lower and lower until it curved around her ass to give it a little squeeze.

"I was happy to oblige, baby."

Allie turned her head so she could smile softly at him. "I know you're gonna tell me I don't need to thank you for that, but I'm going to anyway. Thank you for listening to me, and for not questioning me or trying to talk me out of it."

His lips curled sexily as he leaned in to brush them against her jaw. "I'm not gonna lie and tell you I didn't love every second of it 'cuz I did, but if I'm being completely honest, Allie, I _did_ have a moment, right at the beginning of all that, when I almost tried to talk you out of it."

"I know," she smiled over her shoulder. "I could tell. But I'm glad you didn't. I just...I needed us both to know we could do that, and do it _that_ way, and that it was okay."

"I get it, baby," Jax told her softly, leaning in to drop a gentle kiss on her shoulder. "I would've been gentle with you if you hadn't told me different. I just…"

"The last thing I want is for you to think sex has to be different between us now. I mean, I don't know. Maybe it _is_ different, but in a better way."

He smirked down at her with sparkling eyes. "I told ya I couldn't see outta one eye for a little bit, and I wasn't kidding."

She bit down on her bottom lip to hide her smug grin. "I liked it when you pulled my hair."

"I know you did," he murmured again, dipping lower to press his lips against her mouth. "I liked it too. So does that mean it's on the table? Whenever I want, as long as your lips aren't wrapped around my cock?"

"I wouldn't say _whenever_ you want," she threw him a side-eye from over her shoulder. "There's a time and a place for it, Jax."

"Duly noted, captain," he grinned down at her, grinding his hips into her again as a well-timed reminder of what he was really after here. "I promise I'll go easy on you, baby. The last thing I'd ever wanna do is hurt you."

"Okay, Jax."

That was all he needed to hear. He dropped to his side so he was lying behind her again, and his hand snaked down her stomach, drifted down between her thighs to gently nudge her legs apart.

"Open up for me a little bit, baby," he murmured against her neck, the hand on the inside of her thigh coaxing it open a little further and she did as she was told, spreading her legs apart on her side so he could ease into her slowly and gently.

Even then, slow and gentle, there was still a little bit of a burn, a little bit of a soreness that had an aftershock, and she sucked in a harsh breath at the impact.

"You alright? Is this okay?"

She tensed a little bit when he moved again, easing in and out of her with movements that were so practiced, so _focused_ they really should be a crime. And now some of that burning sensation was ebbing away, making room for something else.

"It hurts a little," she admitted, turning her head, finding him watching her with careful eyes. "But it's okay. It feels good, Jax."

He tipped his chin to her with a smirk, grinding his hips against her again, making her close her eyes at the heady feeling at how he could be so deep inside her and hit every spot she needed him to, but still be so gentle at the same time. Suddenly, he was lifting his upper body up again, dropping an arm next to her head to prop himself up, gyrating his hips achingly slow to drive into her that much deeper so that _he_ was the one practically on his hands and knees now. The arm propped up at her head dropped to her right hip, keeping her firmly on her side as his lower body moved up and down like he was dancing into her hips with no music.

"Oh my _God_ ," she exhaled into the pillow. "How can it feel that good? Oh my God, Jax, how do you make it feel so _good_?"

He leaned in to murmur in her ear, "Maybe you just do somethin' to me, baby."

Just when his body continued its ministrations against her hips and inside her, a door opened and closed from the first floor. And then they heard it:

"Allie?" Dan called out. "You weren't answering your phone! I tried to call! I really did! Are you guys upstairs?"

"Oh no," she groaned into her pillow, laughing when he just didn't stop. "Jax, our door's open…"

"I don't give a fuck."

"Jax!"

He paused just long enough to tip his head back, and yell toward the open bedroom door, "Yo, Dan?"

"Yeah, friend?"

Allie just buried her face in her pillow, halfway between laughing and mortification, and right on the edge of coming.

"Can you get lost for a little bit?" Jax bellowed out, and then he lifted his hips into her again, making her groan into the pillow.

"Are you having sex with our sweet little Alexandra right now?" Dan called back from the living room.

"Sure am, bro."

Allie slapped a hand over her eyes. Mortification. That's where she was at right now - the humor, and the impending orgasm? That was gone now. She shot out an arm behind her, flailing aimlessly to try to smack him in the chest but missed the first time. She got him on the second try, and he just bit down on his bottom lip with heat in his eyes.

"Okay," Dan called out again. "I'll be back in an hour, but when I get back, we're having a family meeting."

"Sounds good, bro. Now get the fuck out of here."

"Okay, bye! Have fun!"

Her shoulders were shaking with laughter now, even as his movements picked up a gentle speed again. He was still leaning into her on his knees, dipping his body low and propping himself up with his arms alongside her head, and then one of his arms dropped back down to her hips to tilt them up a little, giving him deeper, better access inside.

"Oh my God," she groaned into her pillow again. "How, Jax? _How_ are you doing this right now? This is insane."

"Does it feel good, baby?"

" _Yes_."

All she needed was another 30 seconds of this, of him leaning down to her on his hands and knees, all but gyrating against her, lifting his hips all the way up, and then back down again, but slowly and gently, with a tenderness and a carefulness that made her heart sing too, and then that was it. He flung her over the edge again as she buried her face in her pillow, letting her body tremble and shake against the mattress until she was completely spent, every limb turning into liquid underneath her. About a second later, he groaned, and then stiffened behind her, the arms around her head tremoring ever so slightly around her.

"I don't…" she exhaled breathlessly, her face still pressed into her pillow. "I don't need to know what you were doing or how you were doing it or where the hell you _learned_ how to do it but...that was crazy, Jax."

"Crazy good?"

"Yes."

He dropped to his side again with a satisfied chuckle, keeping a hand firmly on her hip as he settled back against his pillow. "I will admit it's a move that's taken some practice, but the only one I've wanted to practice it with is you."

Allie just shook her head through her laugh, too sated, and too exhausted to react too strongly to any part of what he'd just said, so she just collapsed against her pillow.

"That's it, Jax," she moaned into her pillow. "That's all I can take. I don't care if that wasn't the number. I think seven is plenty. _More_ than plenty."

He sighed heavily, trailing a light finger down her cheek. "Hmm, I disagree, but I suppose I see your point. Next time, baby. I'll get it next time."

About 20 minutes later, they made their way down the stairs, knowing Dan was probably on his way back to the house. Jax snickered a little as he trailed behind her, and she narrowed her eyes at him over her shoulder, a little wary about what he was laughing at - the fact that she'd thrown the T-shirt he'd been wearing yesterday on and it was about six sizes too big, the fact that she _was_ walking pretty stiffly, and probably would be for the rest of the day, or the fact that once again, he was literally _behind_ her.

And finally, with eyes narrowed, she called over her shoulder, "What are you laughing at?"

His eyes just sparkled back at her. "Nothin', baby. You hungry?"

"Of course I'm hungry. Aren't you?"

His hands settled around her shoulders as he laughed again, steering her around the staircase and headed right for the kitchen. "I don't know about you, but I'm pretty fuckin' ravenous right now."

She just rolled her eyes at him, but not before drinking in the sight of him shirtless in her kitchen. _This_ was something she'd been wanting to see for a while, and maybe now, after the night they'd just had, they just didn't care anymore if he walked around half-dressed, even if Dan was going to be around, because this was his home too. She wanted him to be comfortable _here_ too.

Just as she got a pot of coffee going, Jax shocked her by rifling through the refrigerator and coming back out with a carton of eggs. She must've been openly gaping at him because he cocked an eyebrow at her, a lazy smirk slipping across his face.

"What? One of us has to make breakfast and we both know it's not gonna be you."

He shot her a wink from over his shoulder, and then got to work on their breakfast. She could only drop down on one of the barstools, wincing a little at the stiffness between her legs, as he rummaged through a few cabinets until he found a pan, set it on top of the stove, and turned the burner on.

"You want 'em scrambled?" he called over his shoulder.

"Sure," she grinned. Her smile only deepened when she really let herself take in the sight of him with his back to her, his Reaper tattoo on full display, his blonde hair mussed and sticking up in some places around his head, with just a pair of shorts slung around his hips and a spatula in his hand.

Then, when the coffee maker beeped next to him, he didn't hesitate, reaching over to open the cabinet to grab two mugs. He silently poured some coffee into both before shifting on his heel to pass her a steaming mup from across the center island between them.

He winked at her again, then shifted back to the stove, working on their breakfast by cracking a few eggs and dropping them into the sizzling pan.

"I didn't know _you_ could cook," Allie smiled again, taking a sip from her mug and closing her eyes at this feeling. The intimacy of this moment was almost too much for her to handle right now...her man, in their kitchen, making her breakfast after a night of marathon sex, not to mention one more time this morning, and she just...this was just it. This was the rest of her life, right here, in this kitchen, in this moment, and tears stung her eyes just at the thought.

He really was everything she'd ever needed him to be.

"Well," he was saying now from over his shoulder. "It's not like scrambled eggs are exactly _hard_ to make. Besides, I was a prospect once - I've made a lot of breakfasts for hungover bikers. Sure, that was a long time ago, but eggs sorta became my speciality."

"Didn't realize bikers sat around and had breakfast together."

"After a night at the clubhouse?" he glanced at her from over his shoulder with a laugh. "Sometimes the only way we know anyone is still _alive_ is if they show up at the bar for breakfast the next morning. There's been a few times we've had to go lookin' for someone if they're not at the bar with everyone else just to make sure they're still breathing."

"I can imagine. Sounds like things can get pretty wild there."

Now, he glanced over his shoulder again with a sly smirk. "Sure. But it's fun. You think you might wanna spend a Friday night there with me anytime soon?"

Her lips parted to respond, but the words died on her tongue. There was a part of her that really wanted to, if only because she knew how happy that would make him. At the same time, it just wasn't something she felt comfortable with yet. Especially now, when she knew everyone _knew_ and she was going to have to deal with the looks, whatever those looks were, in addition to everything else they probably already felt where her role in the club was concerned. She just wasn't quite ready to face all that yet.

And then if she was _really_ being honest with herself, she just didn't like the idea of spending a night in that bed in his dorm. It shouldn't matter to her because it didn't matter to him - she _knew_ that, but it did. That was where he'd had every other woman who'd ever come before her, for the most part, and being in that bed just didn't...it just didn't sit right with her. She knew how unfair that was. After all, she'd had men in her bed before Jax too, and here they were, spending every night in it together, save for Fridays when he needed to be at the clubhouse. But she just couldn't help it.

It was one thing to _know_ there had been many, many women before her. That really had never been much of an issue for her because she knew she was the last one, just like he knew he was the last one for her. But it was a whole other thing to spend a night in the same bed all those many, _many_ other women had been in before her. The same sheets, same mattress...same man. She didn't really want to do that, but she also didn't know how to tell him that without sounding crazy. Or possessive. Or paranoid.

"You know what?" Jax smiled at her. "I can see the wheels in that smart brain turning. I know you're not ready to believe me just yet, but I can tell you it's gonna be just fine. We just gotta get the first one outta the way. And hey, if we're in my dorm, we don't have to worry about roommates bargin' in when I'm deep inside you like this morning. No interruptions, no havin' to share a bathroom or anything like that. It could be fun, baby, if you let yourself have it."

Allie narrowed her eyes at him, even as he set a plate of scrambled eggs in front of her on the island. She eyed him warily as he carried his own plate around the island, nudging her off her barstool only to plop down where she'd just been sitting. Then he pulled her onto his lap, nonchalantly shoveling a forkful of eggs in his mouth. She winced again at the pressure from this position, adjusting her hips so she could sit on top of him more comfortably.

Jax caught her movements immediately, quirking his eyebrows at her slyly, but she just shook her head at him.

"Don't even say it."

He just lifted a shoulder, wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her against his chest. "I'd say I feel bad but...that would be a lie. I'm not sorry at all."

Allie just shook her head at him, and opened her mouth to sass back at him, but quickly shut it when the door by the garage opened and closed.

"Hello?" Dan called out cautiously from the hallway. "Are you decent? I really just mean Allie."

Jax's shoulders shook around her, and he leaned in to murmur, "Maybe I should go put on a shirt."

"Too late now, Jax," she grinned over her shoulder. "You came downstairs knowing full well he was coming back."

"Well?" Dan tried again, a little more impatience coloring his voice now. "I hear voices."

"It's fine, Dan," Allie called out with a laugh. "We're decent."

Two seconds later, Dan appeared in the hallway as he moved toward the kitchen, his eyes flashing deviously when he got a good look at the shirtless, muscled Adonis sitting on a barstool at their kitchen island.

"Well," Dan quirked an eyebrow at them, sidling up to the other side of the island as he tilted his head at the sight of Allie nestled in Jax's lap. "You two look _cozy_. I take it you had a good night last night. I already know you had a good _morning_."

"We did," Allie grinned back at him, her heart fluttering in her chest when Jax rested his chin on her shoulder. "How was your night? You said something about having a family meeting? Everything okay?"

Dan huffed out a bitchy cackle, his eyebrows high in his forehead. "I'm kinda surprised you remember that, Alexandra. You know, considering."

At least she had the good sense to be a little embarrassed, with some heat flushing to her cheeks. Jax just shrugged nonchalantly, leaning forward to shovel another forkful of eggs into his mouth.

" _Anyway,"_ Dan pressed on, and Allie felt her eyes narrow at him. He was fidgeting a little. Like he was antsy about something. Like he was trying to keep himself from jumping up and down in front of them.

"What's going on?" Allie frowned. "You're being weird."

Dan's lips curled into a happy grin and he bit down on his bottom lip like he just couldn't contain himself. "Okay. _Okay_. So, this morning, I woke up in bed with my boyfriend, right?"

Allie's frown only deepened, and she glanced over her shoulder to find Jax listening with a light smile playing on his lips, like this whole thing was amusing to him.

"Okay," she replied slowly.

"And then. And _then_ ," Dan grinned from ear to ear, dipping his knees down in barely-bridled excitement. "My boyfriend turned to me and said, _I don't want to go another day without knowing you're my husband._ "

Allie's jaw dropped open, her eyes wide. Even Jax had stilled underneath her, the fork in his hand frozen in mid-air.

"Can you believe that? I mean, can you _believe_ it? I'm engaged!"

At this point, she'd completely lost the ability to speak. This was...there was just...she was flailing around for the words but couldn't find them.

"Oh, don't look so horrified, Alexandra," Dan chided her, but that elated smile still hadn't left his face. "Are you gonna be my best friend and get over here and hug me or what?"

Without hesitation, she slipped off Jax's lap to side-step around the island, until she could wrap her arms around her best friend and squeeze him tight.

"Congratulations," she whispered. "I'm so happy for you."

"Are you really?" Dan laughed in her ear. "I know exactly what you're thinking right now."

Allie blew out a quick breath to school her reaction into an appropriate smile, deciding to give him what he was looking for as she stepped aside so Jax could clap Dan on the shoulder and bring him in for a bro-hug.

"Congrats, bro," Jax grinned at him. "That's great news. It really is. We're really happy for you, _aren't_ we, Allie?"

She was momentarily paralyzed again by the reality of what was happening here until Jax nudged her back to life with his elbow. Shaking herself out of it, she pressed another smile to her face and nodded.

"Yeah, Dan. We are."

Dan just narrowed his eyes playful at her. "I know what you're thinking. You're thinking we've only been together a few weeks and that we probably don't even know each other that well and that marriage is for suckers who like pain and legal fees, but let me tell _you_ something, Alexandra," now he jabbed a finger at her, " _you_ were dating this sexy biker man here all of what, two days? _Maybe_ three? And then, bam, you're his teeny tiny little biker wife."

Allie's eyes widened, and even though her mouth dropped open, there were just no words for _that_. Jax, for his part, was leaning into the island now on his elbows, bringing his knuckles up to his mouth to hide his shit-eating grin.

"So I'm not sure you can really put your little foot down about this," Dan informed her smugly. "Because that would make you a hypocrite. And _yes_ , I said biker _wife_ ," he jerked a hand at Jax, whose shoulders were shaking with laughter now, "because in his world, that's exactly what you are. So _you,_ my friend, are in no position to judge _me_ for knowing what I want, just like you, and not wanting to waste any time."

Dan glanced at Jax once, and then did a quick double-take at his bare chest before batting his hands in Jax's direction. "I want to be married to him, Allie. And I don't think I should have to explain myself to you, especially not when you've already done the exact same thing - just because your biker marriage isn't technically legal doesn't make it any less of one. I want him to be my husband, and so that's what we're gonna do."

Allie blew out a deep breath, and inhaled one more time just to get a handle on herself. There were _so_ many things she wanted to say, no _scream_ at him right now it wasn't funny, but she could see, judging by the determination and the happiness on her best friend's face that there was just no reasoning with him. No rationalizing. No convincing. She'd known he'd fallen head over heels for Adrian just as quickly, if not quicker, than the way she'd fallen for Jax. She'd figured this would happen eventually...but not _this_ fast. Not _this_ soon.

She'd thought they would all have a little more time to co-exist in this house as roommates and friends and hang out together - even though Jax seemed more than a little frustrated by the arrangement from time to time, _she_ liked it. She liked having them all under the same roof, almost like a little family, mainly because she'd never really had that before, at least not as an adult...and now that was going to come to an end so much sooner than she'd thought, than she was really ready for.

"I get it, Dan," she smiled softly. "I really do. If you love him, if he's what you want, I'm not gonna try to talk you out of it," and then, because she just couldn't help herself, "but I _am_ going to talk you into a prenup, whether you like it or not."

Dan's lips curled back into a bitchy snarl as Jax shifted on his weight on the island so he could lift his eyebrows at her.

"Jesus," Jax muttered. "Way to kill the romance, darlin'."

"No shit," Dan shot back.

Allie just shrugged easily, probably a little too easily for their liking, but she didn't care. "As your live-in legal counsel, Daniel, I would not be doing my job if I didn't stress the importance of that particular agreement for this particular occasion."

Dan narrowed his dark eyes at her before dropping them to Jax, who just shook his head with amusement twisting his lips.

"Alright," Dan allowed coolly. "I'll see your prenup, and raise you an officiant."

Allie's mouth dropped open, and she was acutely aware that Jax was now looking between the two of them from his vantage point on the counter with his eyebrows lifted high into his head and an evil smile on his face as he took in the show.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" Allie muttered to Jax.

His blue eyes just sparkled back at her. "Baby, you have no idea."

She only had time to narrow her eyes at him before Dan launched into it.

"You know, friend," Dan started easily, his mouth curling into a sly grin. "I should really be thanking you for kicking me out before because that extra hour I had just now gave me _plenty_ of time to start getting the moving pieces all in the right place. I already called Jimmy and worked out all the details for next weekend and -"

"Whoa," Allie held out a hand, her eyes wide. " _Hold_ on. Next weekend?"

"Yeah," Dan shrugged _way_ too easily. "That's when Jimmy'd planned the wrap party for our little boxing franchise, and I figured, everyone we'd invite is gonna be there _anyway_ and he's already got the food and the drinks and the music all set. We'd probably just do it at the studio no matter what, and this just sorta felt perfect, you know? Like it was just sort of meant to work out this way and everything's just falling into place. And," he nodded slyly to Jax, "your club is invited, of course."

"Of course," Jax grinned back.

"Besides," Dan added with a smirk. "What better way to celebrate a big gay porn franchise than with a big gay wedding?"

Allie rubbed the back of her neck, grimacing through her disbelief. Sure, the logic of it made sense - at least the specifics of the party were already set, and all Dan and Adrian had to do was piggyback on the party with their wedding but...that was _next_ weekend. _Next_ weekend.

"So, Alexandra," Dan grinned slyly at her. "You're going to be our officiant. I've already decided, so you can't say no. You can get ordained online now these days in like, 12 hours, so that's not gonna be a problem. _And_ I would also really appreciate it if you could give away the bride too. I mean, I have to get up that aisle somehow, right? And as much as I'd like to ask this guy," he jerked a thumb at Jax, who just laughed, "I feel like my connection to _you_ is stronger. I want it to be you, Allie. So, will you marry us and give me away?"

She just didn't know what to say. Didn't know how to feel. And suddenly, tears pricked the back of her eyes.

"Next weekend is really soon," she whispered.

Dan tilted his head to the side with a soft smile. He looked happy. He really did. And at the end of the day, that was all she really wanted for him.

"Life is too short not to have the things you want, when you want them, and while you can still have them," Dan told her. "All I know is that I love him. All I know is that I want to be married to him. And all I know is that I want _you_ to be the one to marry us."

Allie swallowed hard, lifting her eyes to Jax one more time, who was watching her with something glimmering in his blue eyes she wasn't so sure she liked. As if he could read her thoughts, his lips curved into a knowing, sly smirk.

And then, there was nothing left to do but look at her best friend and say, "Okay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - Hopefully that lived up to any expectations I'd set in my first author's note ;)
> 
> In case you missed it, I'm posting a new story, Lost and Found, on Sunday, and I'm so excited to finally start sharing it! I've already got nearly 12 chapters ready to go, so I feel like I'm in a really good place to keep my regular Sunday/Wednesday posting schedule. And with five chapters left of this story, that means I might eventually have another story in the works to take over this story's Wednesday posting slot ;)
> 
> Anyway, please let me know what you thought of this chapter - it was sort of like the companion chapter to chapter 29 (the flashback chapter) and it was important for Allie, and the story, that everything that happened between her and Jax in this one was all on her terms. Thank you as always for reading and sticking with this story!


	32. Chapter Thirty-Two

Jax kissed Allie goodbye on her way out the door for work after they’d finished their breakfast - and after that wildly entertaining  _ family meeting  _ with Dan, and then he settled into the couch with the remote in his hand. He really didn’t have anywhere to be for a few hours anyway. No one was expecting him back at the clubhouse at any specific time, and as far as he knew, there wasn’t really any club business on the docket today. As long as he made an appearance at some point - so he was going to take Allie up on her offer to get more comfortable, to feel more at  _ home _ , inside their home.

Because at the end of the day, it didn’t matter if he had one drawer in a dresser or every single possession he owned in this house. If this was Allie’s home, then this was his home too.

Not to mention the fact that he basically already lived here, and her suggestion of clearing out a dresser or two was really just skirting around the issue. But he wasn’t about to push. Wasn’t about to overstep, not when she’d already let him in this far.

Besides, her roommate had pretty much taken care of the rest for him. Jax really couldn’t have planned this out better if he’d tried.

As if on cue, Dan sauntered down the stairs, high on life and on cloud nine, with his phone in his hand.

“Hey, friend?” 

Jax grinned at him from his spot on the couch. “What’s that, bro?”

Dan wagged a finger at him as he rounded the corner on the staircase. “Before I completely get swept away in all my big gay wedding planning and forget all about it, I did the thing you asked me to do, and I have produced some fool-proof options for you.”

Jax’s smile only widened, and he leaned forward on the couch with his elbows on his knees, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. “Nice, bro. What ya got for me?”

“Well,” Dan grinned at him slyly, his eyebrows lifted high in his forehead. “First things first, after some preliminary research, I decided that your initial budget was insufficient, given the task you’d assigned me.”

Now, it was Jax’s turn to lift his eyebrows, but he narrowed his eyes at Dan just as quickly. “What do you mean  _ insufficient _ ?”

Dan tilted his head in exasperation with a hand perched bitchily on his hips. “Have you  _ met _ our girl? Have you  _ seen  _ the clothes she wears? The shoes? The makeup? Come on, friend. It’s designer or bust with our girl, and that means you gotta shell out some cash,  _ bro _ .”

He blew out a deep breath. And here he’d thought $300 was  _ more  _ than enough for what he was asking for. He’d done his due diligence, as Allie would say, and had done a little bit of poking around online on his own, just to get a feel for how much something like this actually cost in real life, and not just what he  _ thought  _ it should cost. It wasn’t about really the cost anyway - in his mind, getting something Allie liked would cost what it cost. He just had a pretty good feeling Dan was spending his money just to spend it. But then again, by roping her roommate and best friend into the mix, he’d done this to himself.

“Alright,” Jax sighed warily. “Whatever you think, bro.”

There was no point in arguing. Besides, Dan was his ace in the hole anyway. And Dan, for his part, giddily held his phone in front of Jax’s face to show him a picture of one of his options.

“Yeah,” Jax nodded with a small smile, feeling his heart clench just a little bit at the thought of seeing it on her. Something like that was pretty damn perfect. And just what he’d had in mind.

“You like this one?” Dan grinned excitedly, and then he pulled his phone away before Jax had a chance to answer, swiping through a few screens before holding his phone up to Jax to show him yet another option. “How about this one?”

Jax scrutinized it carefully and then just shrugged. “I don’t know. They both kinda look the same to me.”

He huffed in exasperation, his lips pulling apart in an irritated line. “Of  _ course  _ you’d say that. You know what? Let’s not mess around here. Just go with the first one. She’ll love it. I  _ promise _ . I’ll send you the link, but just to be clear, you’re buying the gold version, not the silver one.”

“Okay.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Dan eyed him carefully with his eyes narrowed and then he blew out another huff of frustration, slicing his free hand down just to reiterate his point. “Alright, whatever. We’ll do it from my phone because I am  _ not  _ about to let you mess this up after I did all the legwork for you,” then he reached out impatiently, “Hand over your credit card.”

“Shit,” Jax muttered under his breath. “Alright. Thanks, I guess? I gotta run upstairs to get my wallet.”

“Hurry it up. I have very important wedding planning to attend to.”

Jax was already halfway up the stairs when he yelled back, “On it, bro!”

“You know,” Dan called back by the time Jax was digging around in the jeans he’d left in the bathroom the night before. “We need to talk about how you’re going to repay me for this very nice, very big  _ favor _ I did for you. And I have it all worked out.”

At that point, Jax was already jogging back down the stairs with his card in hand. “Alright. Whatever you want - you got it.”

Dan’s face spread apart in a slightly evil, a little depraved smile and he rubbed his hands together gleefully. “I was hoping you’d say that. So, as you know, I’m getting married in a week.”

Jax eyed him carefully as he passed Dan his card. “I do know that.”

“And as I’m sure you’re already aware,” Dan lifted his eyebrows expectantly. “I am in want of a bachelor party, and I would like to have said bachelor party in your clubhouse. It is my greatest and most fervent wish.”

And, Jax grinned,  _ said bachelor party _ would inevitably bring Allie to the clubhouse for a party. There was no way she was getting out of that one - come hell or high water, Dan would never allow her to make excuses  _ not  _ to be there for this particular occasion. Even if Jax couldn’t convince Allie to spend the night, at least he would get her there for a party.  _ This  _ week. He really couldn’t have planned this any better himself.

This one was a no-brainer.

“Hey, just work out the details with Gemma and we’ll make it happen. It’s our turn to host all you guys from the studio anyway.”

Dan’s face spread apart in a shit-eating, victorious grin. “I figured you’d say yes. You know, considering who you’re sleeping with.”

“This is true,” Jax laughed, shaking his head a little as Dan punched in numbers from his card to pay. “But it’s not every day my old lady’s best friend gets married, so there’s that. And, hey, you know what? As my wedding gift to you, I’ll get Allie outta the house for a few days after the wedding so you and Adrian can have the whole place to yourselves for a little bit.”

It was the least he could do, seeing as how in a very short amount of time, he and Allie were about to have the whole place to themselves. Nobody had said it out loud yet, but that was because it was obvious and inevitable - there was no way Dan and his new husband would continue to live under Allie’s roof for very long after their wedding. Sure, maybe it would take them a little time to find a place of their own, but that was fine. Jax could wait.

Dan wagged a finger at him. “I  _ knew _ I liked you. I don’t know how you’re gonna do it, and I really don’t care right now. So does this mean I should put a rush on the delivery?”

“Rush the delivery, bro. I don’t care what it costs. Just get it to me before next weekend.”

With a few more punches into his phone, Dan nodded to himself before glancing back up at Jax with a knowing grin. “Just for future reference, when it’s time to buy the  _ big one,  _ you’ll get her the silver version,  _ not  _ gold, because gold would be incorrect for  _ that  _ particular purchase. Although, I cannot imagine a situation where I wouldn’t be brought along for that shopping trip - and if you’re smart, you’ll take whatever number you have in your head of what you want to spend, and you’ll double it.”

Jax’s eyebrows lifted into his forehead. “You really think that’ll matter? I mean, if you think it will then -”

“Oh no, friend,” Dan grinned evilly. “I have a feeling our sweet little Alexandra would be perfectly happy with whatever you present to her, when she’s ready to be presented to.  _ I’m  _ the one who wants to spend your money, and I’m gonna enjoy every second of it.”

* * *

Jax pulled into the gas station a few blocks away from the house on his way to the clubhouse, in need of some gas and a nicotine fix. He was almost out of cigarettes, having nearly smoked a whole pack in one sitting before he went home the night before, and he’d had a few more out on the patio before leaving just now.

Now that he was away from the house, and away from Allie, that dark current he’d been wading in before he went home last night - that dark current slipped right back over his head again. The darkness enveloped him and squeezed him tight, sucking him in even deeper and deeper like a deadly undertow. He’d been able to keep it all at bay as long as he was at home, wrapped around her, focused on her, giving her what she needed from him. 

The physical distance from her now wasn’t doing him any favors. It had been right on the tip of his tongue to ask Dan what he knew, and how much he knew, but he also didn’t want to burst Dan’s happy wedding planning bubble either. He figured Dan had to know  _ something  _ \- he just didn’t know how much Allie had been willing to tell him. Not that it mattered. Not that it did anything for his mood either.

And it was that dark mood that trailed along after him as he made his way inside the gas station after filling up his tank. He nodded to the clerk behind the counter, his eyes lifting up to the rows and rows of cigarette packs on the back wall. Something made him hesitate, and then, looking to stall, his gaze dropped down to the newspaper rack to his left.

One headline, in particular, stood out above the rest, and for a second, that dark mood lifted as he read and then re-read the headline:  _ Local Strip Club Owner Dominic King Arrested For Secret Prostitution Ring.  _ His lips quirked up in a smile, and he snatched the newspaper out of the rack and tossed it onto the counter. 

Shit like that needed to be in a frame.

“Anything else, Mr. Teller?” the clerk behind the counter looked at him now, and Jax had to grin at the respect. 

Wearing this president patch would never get old. But as his eyes drifted back up to the rows of cigarettes behind the clerk, hesitation momentarily paralyzed him right where he stood. He narrowed his eyes at another row right underneath all the cigarette packs, and tipped his chin toward it.

“Those things actually work?” Jax asked the clerk.

He whipped his head around, quickly finding the row of e-cigarettes Jax was looking at, and he just shrugged. “Sure. Not the same as a real smoke, but it’s not supposed to be. Which one you want?”

Jax felt himself hesitate again, briefly chewing on his bottom lip in thought. Then, before he could stop himself, he tipped his chin to that row again. “Whichever one most people get.”

The clerk shrugged again, tossing that package and a set of some weird-looking pods on top of it, and rang it up along with the newspaper and his gas. But when he stepped outside the gas station, this time he didn’t hesitate, ripping through the package, not bothering with the instructions, and jammed one of the pods inside the contraption that looked more like a dog whistle than an e-cigarette. He took a long pull from it once it was all activated, inhaling deeply, the taste of mint filling his mouth, and then he pushed out a stream of smoke through his nostrils.

Huh. 

That wasn’t  _ terrible _ .

Definitely not the same as an actual cigarette, but not the worst thing ever either. He could  _ probably  _ get used to it, since it was technically healthier for him than an actual cigarette, once he got used to the shit he’d get for it at the clubhouse.

His prepay buzzed inside his cut, and he took one more long pull from that e-cigarette as he dug in his pocket, frowning when he saw the number on the caller ID. He flipped it open almost immediately to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Jax?”

He just about fell over when he realized he recognized the voice on the other end of the line and gripped his prepay until his knuckles turned white.

* * *

Allie glanced up from her coffee cup at some movement in her doorway, and felt her heart twist violently in her chest at the sight of her dad hovering, shifting anxiously from side to side like he just didn’t know what to do with himself. That was fair, given the circumstances. She glanced at Piper, who was frowning at Jimmy from her spot at Allie’s desk.

Piper  _ still _ hadn’t given her much intel on what was going on with her, although Allie had a pretty good feeling things with Dylan weren’t going well. And if Piper just didn’t want to talk about it, then no one understood that better than Allie. Still, she’d been hoping for a little bit of a distraction from everything that had gone down yesterday at the clubhouse, and she’d yet to find it.

And now, her dad was watching her with careful, agonized dark eyes. His head tilted to the side as he took in the sight of his daughter sitting at her desk in his studio, trying to go about her day just like it was any other day - just like she did just about every day anyway. It was almost as if he was seeing her with new eyes, thinking about some of the things she’d said and some of the things she’d done differently because now all that had a darker, albeit clearer, context.

“Hey, Pipes?” Allie murmured to her with a soft smile. “You think you could give me and my dad a minute?”

Piper just shrugged, swiping her phone and some of the paperwork they’d been working through up in both arms, and left the room with a wave goodbye. Even then, Jimmy still lingered in the doorway, shoving one hand in his front pocket and yanking the other through his greying hair. He shifted his weight from side to side again, and then Allie just couldn’t take this anymore. She rose from her chair, moved around the side of her desk, and then he sprang into action, meeting her in the middle and sweeping her into his arms.

“I’m so sorry, honey,” Jimmy murmured in her ear. “I’m so, so sorry. I wish I’d been there for you, Allie, but I understand why you didn’t tell me.”

There really wasn’t much she could say to that. She  _ had  _ purposefully kept it from him. Had purposefully kept her distance from home the following summer, and once she’d moved to LA, she’d made as many excuses as she could to avoid coming home until she had her game face perfected.

So, all she could really do was give her dad the comfort he needed right now. He  _ thought  _ he was comforting her, and it was fine to let him think that - right now, this was really just about easing the grief of a man who’d just learned his daughter had been assaulted years ago, and that he’d never known, and that she’d kept it from him all these years. Allie knew she could’ve told him. She  _ knew  _ that. It was never about worrying if he would believe her because she’d known he would.

She just hadn’t been able to say the words until yesterday, until necessity had dictated that she sit on that bed in Jax’s dorm, with his hand pressed soothingly into her back, and with her brother sitting across from her. Maybe she’d needed to tell Opie too - not quite as much as she’d needed to tell Jax, but seeing him listen, seeing him finally understand, even in spite of the inevitable guilt etched across his face - that had felt good too. It had felt right.

It hadn’t, unfortunately, ever felt right to tell her dad. How was she ever supposed to look him in the eye and say all that to him anyway?

“You know,” Jimmy was saying now, as he loosened his grip on her and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “Our business partner is the best partner for  _ you  _ that I ever could’ve asked for. I can’t imagine it was easy for him to sit across from me in his mother’s kitchen yesterday and have to say all that to me. But he did it. We all got through it, and we’re  _ still  _ gonna get through it.”

Allie hadn’t forgotten Jax had told their parents yesterday. She’d just  _ wanted _ to forget.

“I know, Dad,” she smiled back at him. “I know.”

“He told me he’s gonna make this right for you,” Jimmy went on. “And I believe him. I really do.”

Allie bit down on her bottom lip to hide her frown and the sinking pit forming in her stomach. He didn’t say that to  _ her  _ yesterday, or this morning, and she knew there was only one reason why. It was very possible that he just didn’t want to have to answer the question she didn’t want to have to ask.

“I’m sure he will, Dad,” Allie smiled back weakly. She swallowed hard as the words left her lips because she just didn’t know what else to do.

“Hey, you know what? We should go out to lunch together today. When was the last time we did that, huh?”

“Yeah,” she smiled again. “I think that would be nice.”

Jimmy opened his mouth to say something else but got cut off by her phone ringing on her desk. He just gestured with his head to her desk, signalling that she should answer it. With a light laugh, she speed-walked back to her desk, smiling at the caller ID and sweeping it up to answer.

“Hey, Jax.”

“Hey, baby,” his voice came in through the other end. Even though he’d only said two words to her, the agitation in his voice had her frowning.

“What’s wrong?”

He huffed out a laugh, and she could practically see him shaking his head, wherever he was. “Nothing’s wrong...at least not really. Shit, maybe I shouldn’t - fuck, I shouldn’t have called you. Look, Allie, we still have Rosen on our payroll as a back-up. I’ll just give him a call and see if he can handle this.”

“Jax,” she told him firmly. “You can’t drop something like that on me and  _ not  _ tell me what’s really going on.”

He pushed out a long, frustrated sigh, and then after a pause, just jumped into it. “Wendy’s in lock-up. She wouldn’t tell me the details, just that she made a mistake and asked me to bail her out. I don’t know...Allie, lemme just give Rosen a call and let him deal -”

“Jax,” she sighed. “She’s at Charming PD, right?”

“Allie,” he huffed out. “I shouldn’t have called you. I don’t want you dealin’ with this shit on top of everything else. I’m gonna call Rosen -”

“Who’s gonna charge you an arm and a leg just for showing up and signing some paperwork,” Allie cut in, almost unable to believe the words that were about to come out of her mouth. “I’ll go bail her out, sign whatever needs to be signed, and then I can at least find out what’s going on before you bring Rosen into the mix.”

“I don’t care about Rosen charging us for that, Allie. That doesn’t matter to me right now.”

“Yeah?” Allie shot back a little too quickly. “Well, it matters to  _ me _ , Jax. I’m the club’s attorney, aren’t I? I know how important the club’s cash flow is right now. How’s it going to look to everyone else when they find out I just passed this off and cost the club more money? I don’t want to do that. Just let me take care of this, okay?”

There was a pause on the other end, like he was weighing his options, sifting through the pros and cons on this, and maybe, by the end of it all, he realized what they both already knew: he just wasn’t going to win this argument.

“Alright, I’ll meet you there -”

“No, Jax,” she told him quietly. “I think it would be better for everyone if you weren’t there. You know what I mean?”

There was another pause, and she could hear him inhaling sharply on the other end. What she was about to do wasn’t going to be pleasant for anyone involved, but if Jax was there too, that would just make this whole situation that much worse, not to mention more awkward.

She had no idea if Wendy was aware they were together, but that didn’t matter.  _ She  _ knew. And they both knew that Wendy was technically  _ still _ Jax’s wife.

“Allie,” Jax started softly. “You don’t have to do this. I really don’t want you to anyway. I’m sorry I called - it was just a knee-jerk reaction and I didn’t think about it before I did it.”

She sighed heavily, already reaching for her purse. “Jax, just let me take care of this for you, okay?”

“Allie -”

“Jax, I’m not gonna tell you again. And if you show up at the precinct, you’re sleeping at the clubhouse tonight.”

He must’ve heard the lightness in her voice, for what it was worth, and he huffed out a laugh a moment later. “A’ight. Read you loud and clear, darlin’. Just swing by the clubhouse when you’re done, okay?”

“Got it.”

“I love you,” he told her.

“Love you too,” she smiled into the phone. “I promise I’ll come to the clubhouse as soon as I’m done.”

“Okay, baby. See you later.”

When she hung up, she blew out a deep breath, glancing up to find her dad still watching her carefully, like he was a little worried she could just break down at any second. Like  _ that  _ was going to happen. 

“Don’t ask,” she told her dad as she side-stepped around him to head to the hallway. “Maybe we should make dinner plans instead, Dad.”

He just lifted a shoulder, calling out behind her, “On it, honey. I’ll make reservations somewhere.”

Allie waved at him over her shoulder, continuing her long trek down the hallway. It was funny - she walked down this hallway many times a day, but today, right now, this hallway seemed to stretch on for miles and miles with no end in sight. That feeling didn’t dissipate as she got in her car and drove to the police station. It certainly didn’t get any better when she got out of her car and stared at the front doors. Especially considering the last time she’d been here had been in wildly different circumstances.

She took a deep breath for strength, and then charged ahead.

_ You’re a professional,  _ she told herself as she pulled open one of the front doors.  _ You’re capable and smart. You can handle anything. And you don’t take shit from anyone. _

Everything was going to be fine. She’d get in and get out, and then she could swing by the clubhouse when she was done and tell Jax everything had gone just fine. No one had had anything to worry about. That was what was going to happen.

“Hi,” Allie smiled at the police officer sitting at the front desk. “My name is Attorney Allie Levy. I’m here for Wendy Case - I’m her representation.”

The police officer nodded to her with a friendly smile, flipping through a stack of paperwork before setting it on a clipboard and passing it to her. “Her bail forms are here. Why don’t you have a seat over there,” he gestured to a row of chairs pushed up against the far wall, “and we’ll call you over to take you back.”

Allie pressed a smile on her face, hoping it didn’t look as grim as she felt, and took the clipboard. At least this was something she could do. Something she could focus on. And that feeling lasted right up until she sat down on the chair and took a good look at the forms in her hands.

They were standard processing forms, and her eyes immediately dropped to the box that listed her charges - possession of an illegal substance with intent to sell. It’s not like that was a huge surprise. That certainly wasn’t the worst thing Wendy could’ve been brought in for, but it definitely wasn’t  _ great _ either. And then her eyes dropped to the box that listed Wendy’s legal name, and she stilled in her seat.

_ Wendy Case Teller. _

Allie blew out a slow breath, desperate to calm her thundering heart. This was fine. Everything was going to be fine. Still, she gripped the pen in her hand a little bit tighter, her movements a little bit shakier as she filled out the bond paperwork and signed everything that needed to be signed. She must have sat there, once everything was all finished, with the paperwork in her lap and staring at that name in that box, for at least an hour, just waiting until Chief Unser poked his head out of his office and waved her over.

“Attorney Levy,” the chief smiled grimly. “Good to see you again. It would be nice if it were in better circumstances, but what can you do?”

“Right,” Allie laughed, wincing a little at the way it sounded and the way it felt. Definitely didn’t feel right to laugh at this particular moment. “Any ideas on when I could go back and see her? I know processing is going to take a little more time, but I’d like to talk to my client as soon as possible.”

Chief Unser grinned back at her, some lines crinkling around his eyes as he nodded. “Sure thing. You know, it’s kinda quiet around here right now. Why don’t we head on back?”

Allie just nodded, pressing another firm smile on her face. She took another deep breath as she handed the paperwork and the clipboard back to the chief, trying not to react when he gestured with his head toward a hallway in the station, which surely led to the holding center, which most definitely held Jax’s wife.

“Anything you can tell me about the charges?” Allie asked him as they made their way down the long hallway. 

Chief Unser glanced at her from over his shoulder before cocking a wary eyebrow at her. “I take it the Sons know you’re here?”

“They’re the ones who sent me,” Allie allowed tightly.

The chief blew out a deep breath, and cast another look over his shoulder, this time, looking beyond her and further along to make sure no one else was within earshot. “The guy she was brought in with last night...we think  _ he’s  _ really the mastermind behind their little operation. It obviously wasn’t a great one because they got caught, but I suspect the intent to sell charges will be dropped against her. The possession charges will probably stick though - no getting ‘round that.”

“Right,” Allie nodded slowly, letting all that simmer for a moment.

“Well, all I gotta say is that Jax did the right thing, sendin’ you over here. She needs herself a good lawyer.”

Allie really only had it in her to press another tight smile on her face. That was about the best she could do, given the circumstances. Chief Unser seemed to sense he’d said more than enough at this point, and he flashed a security keycard in front of the door at the end of the hallway until it clicked, opening it and holding it open for her to pass through.

They ambled past a few holding cells, and Allie glanced anxiously in them, looking for any sign of Wendy, and then her steps froze right in her path. She stopped in front of one of the holding cells, her eyes fixed on the familiar figure hunched over on the tiny steel bed inside it. The figure lifted her head when she sensed some movement around her, and Allie felt her heart twist violently in her chest.

“Allie?” her mom called out weakly from inside the cell. “What are you...are you here to come get me?”

Allie’s lips parted to speak but the words didn’t come. She sucked in a harsh breath, tears pricking the back of her eyes as she swallowed tightly.

“No, Mom,” Allie whispered. “I’m not here to get you.”

By now, she was acutely aware that Chief Unser had stopped in his tracks, his eyebrows lifting high into his forehead at the word  _ mom _ . Then Allie shifted her attention to him.

“Chief Unser, what is she in here for?”

Her eyes flicked back to Anna, who’d slid off the bed and was walking toward her.

“Allie,” Anna pleaded. “Please, there has to be something you can do. Right? That’s what you do. That’s what you’re here for, isn’t it? Can’t you just...can’t you just  _ help  _ me?”

“Chief Unser,” Allie murmured again, this time, her eyes stayed locked on her mother. “What is she in here for?”

The chief blew out a deep breath and ran a hand over his thinning grey hair. “Soliciting.”

Allie nodded tightly, her eyes dropping to the floor before letting them rest on her mom again. She stared at her mother for one more moment, taking in the dirty clothes, stringy hair, sunken-in eyes, and sallow skin. A few months ago, she would’ve been trying to break through the iron bars to get her mom out of here. She would’ve pulled every string, jumped through every hoop, paid any bail amount just to get her out of here.

But now, she knew she just couldn’t do that anymore. Couldn’t save someone who didn’t really want to be saved.

And so, Allie took one last look at the woman who’d given birth to her, and then turned back to the chief, who was watching this whole scene with a grim expression. She nodded to him, signalling that they could keep walking, and so they did, moving down through the line of holding cells, even as her mom started to yell and holler from behind them.

“You can’t do this to me!” Anna screamed. “I’m your mother, goddammit! You can’t just leave me here, Alexandra! You can’t do this!”

By now, another police officer moved toward Anna’s cell, telling her to calm down and moving to restrain her, but she just kept yelling and kept screaming at the top of her lungs. The cacophony of screams split through the air, bouncing off the walls, and slicing down to the floor. Finally, the chief stopped in front of one of the other cells, and yet another familiar woman rose up from the tiny bed against the wall.

Wendy moved closer to the bars, wincing at the screams coming from the opposite end of the room. She certainly looked worse for the wear - dark circles, puffiness, and mascara smudged around both eyes, thick tangles in her curly hair, and a gash on her bottom lip. Even her clothes seemed to be hanging off her, like she hadn’t seen a good, filling meal in weeks.

And for a moment, Allie almost felt sorry for her.  _ Almost _ .

“Alright, Wendy,” the chief told her. “You’ve got some time here with your lawyer. We’re still processing your bail, but it shouldn’t be too much longer now.”

The problem with all that was, with all the screaming and hollering happening on the other side of the room, it was hard for any of them to actually hear what Unser was saying. With a heavy sigh, Unser just opened the cell, gesturing for Wendy to come out of it, and then he silently led them both down another hallway, before opening the door to what looked like an interrogation room and gestured with his head for them to go inside.

“You two can talk in here while we deal with that out there,” Unser told them through a grimace, and then he shut the door behind him.

They both just stood there inside this cold, blank room with its white, stark walls until Wendy just pushed some hair off her face and plopped down on one of the chairs at the table.

Then she gestured toward the door with her head, where they could still hear some faint hollering in the background. “That your mom?”

Allie hesitated, chewing on her bottom lip absentmindedly as she sank down into the chair across from Wendy. “Yeah, that’s my mom.”

Wendy tipped her chin to her. “You bailin’ her out today too?”

“Nope.”

Wendy’s eyebrows lifted into her forehead. “Wow. That’s cold.”

“Yeah, well,” Allie smiled tightly. “That’s not really any of your business. I’m here for you, not her, so why don’t we just focus on that?”

She didn’t miss the way Wendy’s dark eyes narrowed ever so slightly, as if she had some kind of leg to stand on here, as if she had any kind of negotiation leverage now anyway. Allie wasn’t completely sure what she’d been expecting when she came here today, but it  _ had  _ been a little something like this.

“Do you know where Phil is? Is he okay? Is he gettin’ out today too or are they gonna keep him here longer?”

Allie sucked in a quick breath. “Is that the guy you were brought in with?”

“Yes,” Wendy shot back tersely, and Allie found herself taking another slow breath in, and pushing it slowly back out again before she could let herself respond.

“I don’t know, but I’ll find out.”

Wendy nodded tightly, her mascara-smudged eyes dropping down to the table before jerking them back up to Allie again.

“I figured he’d send you,” Wendy told her quietly. “I was hoping he wouldn’t, but I guess beggars can’t be choosers, right?”

“I guess that’s right.”

“I heard some things, you know,” Wendy went on, her voice taking on a tighter, slightly more aggressive tone. “It’s a small town and people talk. Anyway, I wasn’t surprised. Classy lawyer in her classy clothes with her classy car - of course he wanted you and not me. The second you came into the picture, bam...he’s tellin’ me he wants a divorce, tellin’ me he never loved me. But I  _ saw  _ the way he was lookin’ at you in the parking lot that day. I saw the way he wanted you. And of  _ course  _ he wanted you - you’re probably the only woman who’s ever been out of his league.”

Allie pushed out a deep breath, feeling her patience wearing thin. “Wendy, why don’t we focus on what happened so I can help -”

“You don’t get to just come in here and act all high and mighty,” Wendy pushed out a little shakily, a little too roughly. “Just because you’re sleeping with my husband now - that doesn’t make you better than me, you know.”

Allie gave herself a moment, and then steeled her expression at Jax’s wife. “You know, Wendy, I’m here to help you. I understand you had a rough night last night and probably a rough morning too. I understand you’re scared. I would be, too, if I were you. But it’s also important for  _ you _ to understand that I didn’t have to come, and Jax really didn’t have to send me, and neither of us had to post your bail. I’m willing to help you, Wendy, but my patience with you is running out. If you continue to speak to me that way, I’m going to get up from this chair, rip up all the processing paperwork I just signed for you, and leave you here.”

Wendy’s dark eyes widened and her lips parted in surprise. She reared her head back a little like she wasn’t quite sure what had just happened, and then, turning everything on a dime, Wendy squeezed her eyes shut, her shoulders shaking as her head dropped into her hands.

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I mean, I’m going to prison, right? That’s what’s gonna happen? It doesn’t matter what anyone says or does, right?”

Allie pushed out a heavy sigh and folded her hands tightly on top of the table. “I don’t know for sure, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up that you’re getting out of any time if I were you.”

Wendy nodded tightly, even as more tears flowed down her face, and then she covered her face with her hands, giving into the sobs as her shoulder shook violently in her chair. “What am I gonna do? I can’t go to prison...I can’t have my fucking baby in prison. Oh God, what am I gonna do? What the  _ fuck _ am I gonna do?”

It was that moment, as Wendy’s words really sank in, that the walls started to close in on Allie. She blew out a shaky breath, even as she felt the hands she’d folded on the table start to tremble. Her throat burned and she had to swallow back a quick burst of vomit that snaked up her throat.

And then Wendy’s eyes widened, and she huffed out a laugh, rubbing the tears from her eyes as she spoke, “It’s Phil’s. We’re...I don’t know what we are. I’m about six weeks and…” her face twisted with devastation again as more tears flowed down her cheeks, “and I’m gonna have my baby in prison, aren’t I? My baby’s gonna be born in prison.”

Allie felt like the wind just got completely knocked out of her. She pressed her palms into the edge of the table and pushed out a deep breath. “Alright. Alright. I think...I think we just need to take a minute here, and just talk through what happened -”

“I don’t wanna talk about what happened with  _ you _ ,” Wendy shot back. “I bet you’re really enjoying this, aren’t you? How long did it take for you to hop in bed with my husband, huh? A week? A fucking day? And let me tell you something, Allie, if you think he’s in love with you, you’re  _ wrong _ . That man doesn’t love anybody but himself. He’s a great actor, sure, and he’ll tell you whatever he thinks you need to hear so you tow the party line and do what he wants, but at the end of the day, all he cares about is himself and his club.  _ That’s _ it. And trust me, he’ll drop you as soon as something better comes along. He did it with me, and he’ll do it with you.”

Allie sucked in a harsh breath, her eyes narrowed and focused nimbly on their target, and when she blew out that breath she’d been holding in, she unleashed, tilting her head to the side a little as she spoke, “That’s a little hypocritical, don’t you think, Wendy? Considering you’re sitting here, pregnant with a baby whose father  _ isn’t  _ your husband. But those are just details,” she held up her hands to prove her point, “My mistake. I’m not going to sit here and let you talk to me like this, and let you talk about  _ him _ like this. My experience with him has obviously been different than yours. I won’t apologize to you for that. I’m also not going to sit here and argue with you. I know that’s what you want right now, and I’m sure it would make you feel better, but I’m not interested in playing this game with you.”

With that, she pushed up from her chair and headed for the door. When her hand hit the knob, she turned on her heel to face Wendy, who was gaping back at her in shock.

“I’m not going to leave you hanging, Wendy. I’ll bail you out. I’ll be waiting in my car outside the station to drive you home. I’ll go through a drive through on our way and get you some food because you look like you need it. But as soon as you get out of my car, that’s it. Don’t ever ask him for anything again because you won’t get it.”

And with  _ that,  _ Allie turned the knob and got herself out of that room.

* * *

Jax tore his hands through his hair again as he shifted on his heel, pacing around T-M’s office like a caged animal. He hadn’t heard from Allie in well over three hours, and he was about  _ this  _ close to just hopping on his bike and speeding over to the police station. If he had to sleep in the clubhouse tonight, then he had to sleep in the clubhouse tonight.

“Jax,” his mother’s voice cut through the void. “I think you should just have a seat.”

“I don’t wanna sit, Ma,” he shot back, tearing a hand through his hair again. He brought that stupid fucking e-cigarette up to his lips again, inhaling sharply and making the edge of it glow, and glared at his mother when he caught her smirk. “What?”

“Nothin’,” Gemma smirked at him again. Then she swept her reading glasses off her face and pointed them at him. “This is new - that thing in your mouth. What the hell is that, anyway?”

He glanced at the e-cigarette in his hand exasperatedly. “Fuck if I know.”

Gemma laughed, lifting her eyebrows at him. “So, lemme guess, your old lady has been on your case about the three packs of cigarettes you go through on a daily basis, and now this…” she gestured to the thing in his hand, “this is what you’re doin’ from now on?”

Jax glanced at the e-cigarette in his hand again and just shrugged. “To be clear, she never said I  _ had  _ to quit. It’s just somethin’ I’m tryin’ out. I gotta say, it’s a little weird, but it’s not terrible. I don’t mind that I can sit here and use it in the office though, and not just in the clubhouse. I got a feeling Allie will let me use it in the house too, so there’s that.”

“Ah,” Gemma grinned knowingly. “I see.”

He shot his mother another exasperated glance, just about done with her needling and her poking today. After pacing around the office for the last hour, and checking his phone every single minute, he just didn’t know what else to do. All he knew was that he never should’ve called her - or, he should’ve called her  _ after _ Rosen was already at the station, dealing with whatever shit Wendy had gotten mixed up in.

“Jax,” Gemma tried again. This time, her voice was softer, gentler. “I’m sure everything is fine.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it is too. Except for the fact that I sent Allie to the police station today to deal with my ex-wife. So, there’s  _ that _ , Ma. There’s fuckin’ that.”

“Well,” Gemma shrugged nonchalantly. “She’s  _ still  _ your wife, isn’t she?”

That brought his pacing to an abrupt halt, and he whirled on his heel to glare at his mother. “Don’t ever say that shit again.”

“I’m just sayin,” Gemma shrugged again. “You still  _ technically  _ have a legal obligation to her until that final court date in a few months. Yes, she got herself into this trouble, and no, it isn’t a surprise, but you’re still her husband. If anyone has to bail her out, it’s probably gotta be you.”

“Yeah, well,” he still hadn’t shifted his glare away from her, now feeling his blood boil in his veins at the turn this conversation had taken. “It’s in name only. Besides, the whole point of cutting the cord was so I don’t have to do this kinda shit anymore.”

This wasn’t the first time Wendy had needed to get busted out from jail. So it really  _ wasn’t  _ a surprise that the first person she thought of to call and bail her out had been him. She knew he had the money, knew he had the resources to get her out quickly, and knew he probably wouldn’t be able to tell her no, just like he always fucking did.

Here he was, falling into the same old goddamn habits when it came to her. Just when he thought he was out…

“Well,” Gemma told him gently. “That’s all true. But until that final court date, you’re still kinda on the hook.”

“No shit.”

“Jax, I’m sure everything is fine. I can’t imagine Wendy would be stupid enough to be anything but grateful. You could’ve hung up on her and left her in lock-up. I’m sure she’s scared, and I’m sure she’s upset, but I think she’s pragmatic enough to know that she’s being given a gift right now.”

He rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. “Yeah, I’m not so sure about that, Ma. I never should’ve sent her over there. What the fuck was I thinkin’, calling her like that? After everything that’s been goin’ on, this is the  _ last  _ thing she needs right now.”

“Your job is to delegate, baby,” Gemma shrugged. “That’s what you did - you delegated a job that needed legal attention to your lawyer. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Jax just sliced his hands through his hair again. “It was a knee-jerk reaction. She’s my fixer, you know? I have a problem, and she fixes it.”

Gemma smiled gently as she rose from her desk and made her way over to him until she rested both hands supportively on his shoulders. “I know she is. And you wanna know what else she is? She’s a professional lawyer. She’s damn good at her job - and God knows she’s got a better poker face than you. I know you wanted to try to shield her from this, Jax, but at the end of the day, she’s still the club’s lawyer and this is somethin’ you send the club’s lawyer to take care of. You can’t protect her from everything, and definitely not when it comes to doing her job. I know you want to, especially right now, and I know this is  _ really _ shitty timing, but when it rains it pours, right?”

He blew out a deep breath, nodding more to himself than anything, and then his head whipped around to face the parking lot when a familiar silver BMW pulled in. So she hadn’t called or texted before coming over - right about now, he wasn’t so sure if that was good or bad. And then, when she slid out of the driver’s side, and he got a good look at the tight expression on her face, he winced.

“Shit,” Gemma exhaled next to him. “Looks like things didn’t go well at the police station.”

He shot his mother one more exasperated glare from over his shoulder as he pushed through the office’s door to meet Allie out in the parking lot, shaking his head when he realized Gemma was right on his heels. Gemma wasn’t wrong - Allie looked  _ pissed _ , and while seeing her all fired up like that would normally make him want to throw her over his shoulder and sprint into his dorm, the cause of her current mood was no laughing - or screwing - matter.

Now, he just picked up his pace to get to her sooner, not caring anymore that his mother was hot on his heels for the intel. 

Allie pressed a tight smile on her face as he approached, and he was reaching for her before he was even close enough to touch her. His arm slid around her shoulders to pull her against his chest and then his lips found her hair, pressing a gentle kiss there. He didn’t like the way she gave herself a moment to ease against his chest and then pull out of his arms. He  _ really  _ didn’t like the way she couldn’t seem to bring herself to look him in the eye either.

Shit. He really fucked up today.

“Allie,” he prompted her, dipping down a little to try to catch her eyes.

She blew out a deep breath before finally slicing her dark eyes up to him. “Your wife is a peach.”

He barely had time to react to that, feeling his entire body still in front of her, before she was already shaking her head and running a hand over her face.

“I’m sorry, Jax,” she sighed. “I shouldn’t have said that. It wasn’t fair.”

“Nah,” he tried to smile, but it wouldn’t stick. “I’m pretty sure you’re entitled to feel however you feel right now, darlin’,” then he pressed a hand into the small of her back to lead her back to the office.

No way he was bringing her into the clubhouse right now. Not like this, when she was all keyed up. Nobody said anything as they made their way back inside T-M’s office, even though Gemma did catch his gaze once with her eyebrows hitched worriedly into her forehead as she walked along the other side of Allie.

When they got inside the office, both Jax and Gemma gave Allie a little bit of space, instinctively knowing that close proximity wasn’t exactly what she needed or wanted right now. She pushed out a deep breath, and he could see her going into work mode right in front of them.

“She was brought in last night on drug charges - possession with the intent to sell,” Allie told them evenly, hitching a hand on her hip as she spoke.

Jax could only shake his head, and Gemma didn’t look any more surprised than he was. Especially since this  _ wasn’t  _ exactly a surprise. Maybe the intent to sell part was new - and stupid as shit - but she’d gotten herself into that mess, and if she was going to put herself in that position, then it was only a matter of time before it caught up with her.

“Chief Unser told me he thought the intent to sell charges will probably be dropped, but there’s really nothing anyone can do to make the other one go away. I mean...Jax, she needs a criminal attorney who handles this kind of thing. It was one thing for me to bail her out, but this is beyond me and what I’m trained to do. Even if I  _ wanted _ to help her, I couldn’t.”

He nodded tightly, his eyes narrowing a little at her words. “Allie, I think you should tell me what happened between you and Wendy today.”

Allie swallowed hard, her eyes drifting down to the floor for a moment, and when she spoke again, she was still having trouble meeting him in the eye. “Well, I only had to threaten to leave her there once, so I guess it could’ve been worse.”

His eyebrows shot into his forehead, and he ran his tongue over his bottom lip in a futile attempt at keeping his emotions in check. “Allie -”

“She was scared, Jax,” Allie just sighed, finally looking at him with a little bit of sympathy in her eyes. Of course she’d find the good or, at least, the tolerable in this shit situation. “She’s looking at some real, hard time with this,  _ especially _ if those intent to sell charges actually stick.”

“None of that matters right now,” he told her tightly. “What did she say to you?”

“She probably hadn’t slept or even eaten much before I got there, and I don’t think she really knew what she was saying to me anyway. If I were her, I’d be a mess too. I can’t really blame her, even if it was hard to hear. I mean, she’s pregnant now too and she’s definitely going to be having that baby in prison and -”

All he could hear, above the ringing in his ears, were the words  _ pregnant  _ and  _ baby.  _ Jesus fucking Christ. What the hell was happening to his life right now? For the second time in two days, he felt like he’d just gotten waterboarded, not to mention kicked in the stomach over and over again until he vomited all over the floor.

Just as his hands hit his knees so he could start hyperventilating, he felt Allie’s soft touch around his shoulders to pull him back up. His tortured eyes scanned her face, and he frowned when she just shook her head at him.

“Jax, it’s okay,” Allie told him softly. “The guy she was brought in with last night...that’s the father. She told me she’s about six weeks along.”

He sucked in a harsh breath, glancing at his mother only once and finding her sinking into the chair behind her desk with a hand over her mouth. “You think she was tellin’ you the truth?”

“Well,” Allie just lifted a shoulder. “If someone  _ else _ was the father, I’d think she’d be further along - probably about as far along as Lyla, right? She wasn’t showing or anything like that, Jax. I certainly wouldn’t have known she was pregnant if she hadn’t told me.”

His hands hit his knees again as his head dipped in between his legs for a moment. Jesus, he still felt like throwing up. Could feel it burning his throat, and if he wasn’t careful, he was gonna lose his breakfast all over Allie’s designer heels. And  _ that  _ definitely wouldn’t do him any favors with her right now.

Then he nodded tightly, some of the numbness in his hands ebbing away, some of that burning in his throat easing and cooling. He didn’t even know what to say. Was there even a right thing he  _ could  _ say? He was the one who’d put them both in this position right now, and he could apologize until he lost his voice, but that still wouldn’t change what he’d put them through - what he’d put  _ her  _ through today. And now, he just wanted to punch himself in the face.

“If Allie believes her, Jax,” Gemma called out softly from her spot behind the desk. “Then we should too.”

He nodded again, finding Allie through the red blurring his vision right now, and he nodded to her again, reaching for her hand to brush his lips against her knuckles.

“Alright,” he murmured against her knuckles before brushing his lips against them again. Then he dragged his eyes back up to her, needing her to give him all the information. “Allie, you really need to tell me what happened between you two. And don’t leave anything out.”

Allie glanced nervously at Gemma, who just lifted her eyebrows at her expectantly, and then with another sigh, she chewed on her bottom lip, as if she was sorting through how much she really wanted to tell him. He tilted his head to the side in anticipation, feeling that dark current slip back over his head again. And then, as she sifted through the day’s events again, he could see the annoyance and the agitation cross her face again until her lips were drawn into a tight line.

“Which part do you want to hear about, Jax?” she told him tightly. “The part where she asked me how long I waited before jumping into bed with her husband? The part where she said I had no right to act all  _ high and mighty  _ with her just because I’m sleeping with you now? Or how about when she said that I shouldn’t believe anything you tell me and that you’re just gonna drop me like you did to her as soon as something better comes along? Or when she said I’m wrong if I actually think you’re in love with me? Or when she said all you love is yourself and the club? Which part would you like me to start with, Jax?”

Something dark and dangerous coiled through him, and he felt his eyes narrow as he turned all that over in his mind, imagining his soon-to-be ex-wife spewing that bullshit at Allie just because she still, legally, had his last name.

“She said all that shit to you?” Jax asked darkly.

Allie just huffed out a laugh and shook her head. “What do you think, Jax?”

He inhaled sharply, tipping his head back a little from the impact of all that, and he glanced at Gemma again from the corner of his eye, only to find her watching this exchange with a grim expression on her face.

“Look,” Allie sighed again. “None of that matters anyway. I don’t…I don’t really care.”

Yeah, bullshit she didn’t care.

“What really matters here is that she’s gonna do some time,” Allie pushed on. “She needs an experienced attorney who’s used to handling these kinds of things, and that’s not me. And, the other thing we have to consider is how this is going to impact the divorce and your final court date. She might not be able to appear, and that’s okay, but you have to think about the agreement you made with her about the house.”

“Allie, I don’t give a shit about that house right now.”

“Yeah, well,  _ I  _ do,” she shot back hotly, and he couldn’t stop the way his lips quirked at the sight. “You agreed to sign it over to her, and she agreed to maintain the mortgage payments. If she’s in prison, how is she gonna do that? She’ll end up losing the house to the bank, and then no one gets anything out of it. I don’t want you to lose your investment in that house, Jax, because it’s just not fair, especially not now. I think you should sell it, like you should’ve done in the first place, and then you’ll just have to split the sale with her, like you would’ve had to do in the first place. I know that’s not what you wanted, but at least this way, you both get something out of it and you won’t lose everything you put into it just because she got herself in trouble.”

He blew out a deep breath, finally letting a small smile creep across his face as he drew her into his chest. Always looking out for him. Always having his back. 

“That sounds like a pretty good idea,” Gemma called out hoarsely from where she was standing now. “Listen to your lawyer and do the right thing with that house for chrissakes.”

Jax shot his mom an exasperated glance from over his shoulder, and she just threw her hands up in the air.

“Well,” Allie allowed a little too easily. “I also told her not to ask you for anything again because she wouldn’t get it. Maybe I shouldn’t have -”

“No,” he shook his head tightly. “That was the right call.”

He could see Gemma nodding in agreement from the corner of his eye. And when he shifted his gaze back to his old lady, something in her eyes still wasn’t quite right. Something she still hadn’t told him. Maybe later, when they were at home, and away from Gemma’s prying eyes and ears, he’d get her to spill the rest of it.

“It’s not too late,” Allie told him quietly, but firmly. “There’s still time to get her signature on everything, if she’s willing to do it.”

Oh, he didn’t give a shit if she was willing to do it. He had something else in mind right now too, but he wasn’t about to give Allie the opportunity to talk him out of what he knew, in his gut, was the right thing to do. In light of what had happened today, and the way Wendy had treated his old lady, the way forward was clear.

“Alright,” he nodded, choosing instead to keep her calm rather than the alternative. “I think you’re right. I’ll take care of it and let you know when to draw up the new paperwork.”

“Okay,” she smiled softly and he lifted a hand to her face so he could run a thumb under her cheek.

“You’re way smarter than me anyway,” Jax allowed with a small smile, tilting his head a little as he spoke. “And, baby, I’ll never be able to apologize to you enough for this shit today. I never should’ve let you go over there.”

She just lifted her eyes to the ceiling. “You didn’t _let_ me do anything, Jax. I wanted to help, and so I did.”

“Yeah, and it sounds like you got verbally bitch-slapped for all your effort too.”

Allie pushed out a heavy sigh, leaning into his touch before bringing a hand up to cover the one he’d rested on her cheek so she could twist their fingers together.

“It’s really not that big of a deal, Jax. Was it unpleasant? Sure. But it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle, and it’s not like I believed the things she said, okay? I know she was just lashing out because she’s scared and because she’s still hurt and probably not as over you as she thought she was until I showed up at the precinct today. She probably thought you were trying to shove me in her face.”

Jax just huffed out a laugh. “I don’t give a shit what she thought,” then he closed both hands around her face, no longer caring that his mother was also in the room with them, “And you wanna know what else? There’s a part of me that  _ is  _ glad you were the one who bailed her outta there today. If she was gonna pull that shit with you, if she was gonna  _ say  _ that shit to you, I’m glad it was  _ you  _ that showed up and put her back in her place where she belongs.”

“Jax, I -”

He tipped his chin to her with a smirk. “You said you threatened to leave her there, right? You stood your ground, just like you always do, and you didn’t take any shit, just like you always do.”

Allie just shrugged. “I  _ might’ve _ threatened to rip up all the paperwork I’d just signed for her and leave her there if she kept talking to me the way she was.”

“And  _ that  _ is one of the many reasons why I love you, baby,” he grinned down at her, leaning in to brush his mouth against her lips. “Is that it, though? Anything else she said? Anything else she did that I need to know about, Allie?”

“That was pretty much the gist of it.”

“Alright,” he nodded to her, knowing they could come back to this conversation later tonight when they didn’t have an audience. “I appreciate you taking care of this for me and bringing me up to speed. Why don’t you head back to the office? I’m sure you’re just twitching right now at the thought of all the work you had to miss for this.”

Allie huffed out a laugh and shook her head, letting herself lean into him one more time so he could wrap his arms around her shoulders. Then she tilted her head up to him, “Okay. I’ll probably be home later tonight though - I’d promised my dad we could go out to lunch today, but now that’s turned into dinner.”

“Sounds good, baby. You should do that. Go spend some time with your dad. I’ll be home when you get there, probably getting roped into wedding planning with Dan and Adrian and then trying to figure out how to sneak out of the house without either of them knowing I left.”

“Well, hey, if Dan is making dinner, just nod your head and agree with whatever he’s saying and then he’ll feed you.”

“Not a bad plan, darlin’,” he grinned at her, and then gestured with his head toward the door. “Come on, let’s get you back to your car so you can make up for some of that lost time at the office.”

He waited long enough for Gemma to give Allie a hug goodbye, and then he led her back outside, with his hand on the small of her back - needing that physical connection to her right now more than anything. He opened the driver’s side door for her, ducked down to kiss her goodbye, and then shut the door, dipping down to shoot her a smile through the window.

And he waited long enough for Gemma to sidle up next to him in the parking lot with her lips wrapped around a cigarette. Jax didn’t even bother to turn his head when they were shoulder to shoulder.

“How long you gonna wait before you head over there?” Gemma asked him, her voice filled with the kind of venom and bite he hadn’t heard from her in a while.

“Just about to head for my bike, Ma.”

“Good. You gotta put her in her place, Jax. You can’t let this stand.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Jax replied darkly. “I feel pretty confident she’ll regret using her one phone call on me when I’m done with her.”

* * *

Jax sauntered up the walkway to the front door, confident in his decision, and even more confident in what he was about to do. Maybe this had been a long time coming. Maybe he’d always been too easy on her anyway, too understanding, too soft - and now, Allie had suffered because of it. And he just couldn’t have that.

And because he no longer had any real ties to this house, and had never really thought of it as  _ his  _ house, he opted to knock on the door.

He waited, his patience quickly growing thin, not like he’d really had that much leading up to this moment anyway. Then he knocked again. And again. And again, until Wendy threw open the door. Her dark eyes widened when she realized who was at her door, and he took a moment to really assess her appearance. Dark makeup stained her eyes, so she’d obviously been crying. That looked familiar. Her normally curly hair was matted and twisted into a messy knot at the top of her head. That also looked familiar. Her clothes hung off her body a little looser than he remembered, which probably indicated that she also hadn’t been eating well or taking care of herself lately too. Not exactly a surprise.

Best to just get this over with so he could go home. All he really wanted to do was pass out in his bed, but he had to take care of this first.

So, he pressed a tight smile to his face, eyeing her carefully. “Hey, Wendy.”

She sucked in a harsh breath as her hand tightened around the edge of the front door. “Jax, look, I know why you’re here. I know what I did, and I’m sorry. Okay? I’m sorry.”

Jax inhaled slowly, rolling his bottom lip underneath his front teeth as he regarded his soon-to-be ex-wife, standing in the doorway of their soon-to-be former house.

“You bother saying any of that to  _ her _ ?” he threw out darkly. He waited long enough to see her lips part and then clamp shut again to know he already had his answer. Then he gestured with a hand to the doorway. “You wanna let me in? This  _ is _ still my house and I  _ am  _ still your husband, right?”

Wendy’s makeup-smudged eyes widened, but she was smart enough to step aside to let him into the house. His eyes scanned the living room, and then glanced in what he could see from the kitchen, nodding with some satisfaction that the place wasn’t completely trashed. It certainly wasn’t clean, or all that organized, but it definitely could be worse.

“Jax, I’ll apologize to her if that’s what you want. I’ll tell her that I -”

“Nah, Wendy,” he shook his head tersely. “You’re not going anywhere  _ near  _ her.”

He dropped that in the thick air between them, giving her a moment to really let that simmer. For her to really understand what was about to happen here and why.

“I’m gonna keep this brief,” Jax pushed on, his eyes narrowing on Wendy when her face twisted in desperation. “Because I don’t wanna be in this house, and I don’t wanna be around you, any longer than I have to be. What I really wanna talk to you about right now is gratitude and respect, Wendy. Now, given your current circumstances, I might’ve been willing to give you a little more help. Might’ve had a little more compassion. Might’ve cared a little more about the fact that you’re gonna have to have a baby on the inside. Regardless of all that shit, you gettin’ yourself arrested last night forfeited your right to keep this house all to yourself. You can’t keep it because you won’t be able to make the payments to keep it. Now, I  _ might’ve  _ been more willing to split that sale with you, and I might’ve been more willing to help you, had you shown a little bit of fuckin’ gratitiude,” he wagged a finger at her just because he could, “but you forfeited your right to any of that the second you disrespected my old lady.”

Jax paused there, taking in the way her bottom lip quivered and the way her dark eyes misted with tears, and appreciating that for once, he didn’t even feel bad about it. Because every word he’d said was true - he might’ve been able to muster up some compassion, but that opportunity was long gone now.

“So, here’s what’s gonna happen, Wendy,” he went on with a dark smile. “I’m gonna give you a week. And in that week, you’re gonna sign this house back over to me, so I can sell it and pocket the cash, and you’re gonna get your fucking ass out of this house. After your week is up, I’m gonna send over the prospects to start cleaning this place up so I can put it on the market, and I don’t give a shit if you’re still here or not. If you’re still here, I’ll have them throw your ass out on the street. I don’t care where you go, but you can’t stay here.”

Wendy sucked in a haggard breath, tearing a hand over her face before blowing out a shaky breath. “Jax, I...I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have talked to her the way I did. Don’t...don’t kick me out, okay? I don’t have anywhere to go - nowhere to stay. Phil didn’t get out today and I wasn’t gonna ask her to bail him out too when she didn’t even bail out her mom. I understand what you’re saying and I get that going to prison is gonna make me lose my house. I  _ get _ that, but can I have a little more than a week to figure out somewhere to go?”

“Wendy, I’m not giving you shit. A week is a gift. You should be getting on your hands and knees with gratitude that I’m not kickin’ you out on your ass right now after the shit you said to her, and the way you treated her when she showed up there today to  _ help  _ you. She didn’t have to do that, and I didn’t have to pay your bail. Where’s the fuckin’ gratitude, huh?”

She swallowed hard, her eyes drifting down to the floor between them. And it was in this quiet moment, that his brain caught up to everything that had been said. Wendy had said  _ when she didn’t even bail out her mom _ ...so that was it then. That was the thing Allie had left out. 

Jax pushed out a heavy sigh and ran a hand over his face. On top of everything else, she also had to deal with  _ that  _ today too. Jesus fucking Christ. He really was an asshole for putting her in this position today.

“Jax, I’m sorry.”

“I don’t give a shit if you’re sorry, Wendy. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished I’d never met you over these last few months - fuck, even these last few years. I don’t care about your feelings. I don’t care if you’re hurt. I don’t care if you feel pushed aside. My relationship with her is none of your fucking business. But just to make sure things are clear between us, Wendy, the difference between you and her is pretty goddamn simple. I didn’t love you. And I love her. That’s the difference, and that’s what really matters anyway, right? I let you guilt me into staying with you because I didn’t wanna see you overdose, I didn’t wanna see you hurt yourself, and because I didn’t wanna be the reason you did either of those things. That’s all there was between us. And because I felt guilty, I was gonna let you keep the house, and now I see what a fuckin’ stupid mistake that was because you don’t deserve  _ shit _ from me, and you especially don’t deserve it now.”

Wendy sucked in a harsh breath, taking a small step back to put some more space in between them. 

“But you know what?” he offered lightly, shoving his hands in his front pockets so he wasn’t tempted to put his fist through the wall behind her head. “You did  _ one _ right thing today, and for that, I  _ am  _ grateful. You could’ve let her believe someone else was the father of that baby, but you didn’t. I’m grateful you didn’t put her through that. If you had, you and I both know I would’ve had no mercy for you, Wendy, but since you did the right thing, I’m willin’ to cut you a little bit of slack. I realize you need a good lawyer to help you right now - and my old lady isn’t gonna touch this one. Even if she wanted to, I wouldn’t let her. I’m gonna have Allie set you up with someone who can help you, and I’m gonna pay for it because I know you don’t have the cash to pay for it yourself. But that’s it, Wendy. Don’t  _ ever _ come to me for anything again because I’ll throw you out on your ass so fast it’ll make your head spin.”

Wendy opened her mouth to respond, but he was done with this. There was nothing more to say anyway, and anything she wanted to say wasn’t anything he was interested in hearing. So, he turned on his heel and headed for the door. If he never stepped foot in this house again, it would be too fucking soon.

“You’ve got one week, Wendy,” he called out from over his shoulder. “I’ll have my lawyer send you the paperwork.”

And with that, he slammed the front door behind him, just because he could, and just because it  _ felt  _ good to literally slam the door on her once and for all. Then, he hopped back on his bike, strapped his helmet on, and blew out of that driveway, never wanting to even drive down this street again if he could help it.

He shoved all of that out of his mind as he drove home, grateful this was over, grateful that he could just call it a day because these last few days had been more emotionally and physically draining on him than he was really willing to admit. When he pulled in the driveway, he jumped off his bike long enough to hit the code on the garage door, and then wheeled his bike inside after it opened. He trudged through the garage, noting that Dan’s car wasn’t here, and then pushed through the door, hitting the button to shut it behind him. He kicked off his white Nikes, and then shuffled down the hallway, and more than a little grateful that he was the only one in the house right now.

When he moved into the kitchen, he thought about grabbing a beer but decided against it, choosing instead to shrug out of his cut. He threw his cut on top of the island, and then tossed his keys on top of it. Now, the only thing he wanted was his bed. Exhaustion was finally catching up with him, and he was ready to give in. So he made his way up the stairs, headed for his bedroom, and then sighed heavily when his bed was finally in sight. 

He unbuttoned his flannel and then tossed it in the hamper next to the dresser, and then pulled his T-shirt over his head, throwing that in the hamper too. Once his jeans were off - he just left those on the floor - he fell into bed, punching his pillow a little, and then, mercifully, seeing as how his body and his mind had had about enough, he just passed out completely.

* * *

Allie tip-toed up the stairs, fully anticipating to find Jax passed out in bed. After a long, slightly uncomfortable dinner with her dad, she was glad to be home, and glad to see he was already here. It was pretty early to call it a night, but Jax had obviously had the same idea that she did - these last two days had just been one kick in the teeth after another, and she was just about over it. Now, all she wanted to do was wash this day off, and pass out in bed next to Jax, letting him wrap her up in his warmth, his strength, and his protection.

That sounded pretty good right about now.

She gently pushed open their bedroom door, careful not to disturb him since she was pretty sure he was already sleeping. When her eyes landed on him, flipped over on his stomach with his face buried in his pillow and sleeping soundly, she smiled softly, tilting her head to the side a little as she took that sight in.  _ That  _ was something that would never get old.

And then, because she just couldn’t help herself, and because he just looked too gorgeous and too sweet at the same time, she crawled into bed with him and pressed her lips into his cheek. He stirred in his sleep, his lips curling up into a smile at the contact, and then he slung an arm around her waist to tuck her in closer to him.

“Hey, baby,” he murmured sleepily. “You have a good dinner with your dad?”

“It was okay.”

He squeezed an eye open at that, suddenly awake and alert, and she had to smile at his reaction. Always so attuned to her. Always so aware of what she needed, even if she didn’t know it herself. And she also knew he wouldn’t let it go until he got an explanation from her.

“It was harder than I thought it was going to be,” she admitted quietly. Jax shifted in the bed, propping his head up on an elbow so he could get a better look at her. “He just kept looking at me like he was either gonna cry or jump up from the table so he could hug me. I’m not sure which one would’ve been worse. He was like that all day, too - before I left the office and when I got back. He was just sort of... _ hovering _ , you know?”

He nodded with a soft smile, reaching out to tuck some stray hair behind her ear, and let his fingertips linger on her cheek so he could maintain that physical contact between them.

“Did you talk to Wendy today?”

Jax pushed out a heavy sigh, lifting his hand away from her face so he could scrub that same hand over his eyes. “Allie -”

“I told you what happened with her today. I think it’s only fair you do the same.”

He pushed out another rough sigh, rolling onto his back and taking her with him, tucking her underneath his arm and bringing her against his chest as tightly as he could get her. “We had a conversation about the way she talked to you. We also came to an agreement about the house.”

Allie cocked a wary eyebrow at him.  _ Sure _ , they came to an agreement - it was probably more like Jax told Wendy what was going to happen with the house, and that was that.

He smiled at her, almost as if he could read her thoughts. “I made the executive decision, seeing as how it’s  _ my  _ house and everything, that she doesn’t get shit anymore. I’m gonna need you to draw up some new paperwork saying she’s signing it all back over to me, and then I’m gonna sell it, just like you said I should.”

All she could really do was push out a heavy breath, and let him run his fingertips up the side of her arm. He was right - it  _ was  _ his house, and he was entitled to do whatever he wanted with it.

“So that’s it?” he chuckled against her forehead. “You’re not gonna fight me on this?”

“Well, for starters,” she sighed again. “I’m too tired to fight. And if that’s really what you want to do, and you can get her to sign the agreement, then what difference does it make? I don’t know...it’s hard for me to feel sorry for someone who snapped at me for sleeping with her husband when she’s pregnant with some other guy’s baby. Do what you think is best, Jax. You know I’m with you.”

His lips curled up into a sexy smirk. “Yeah, baby, I know,” and then his hand was in her hair again, soothing her, comforting her, giving her everything she needed. “Allie, if anything else happened at the station today, you can tell me. You know that, right?”

She lifted her head to look him in the eye. “You already know, don’t you? Did Wendy tell you?”

“She might’ve mentioned something.”

Allie sighed again, tucking her cheek into his chest, and letting him wrap his arms around her even tighter. “She was in for solicitation, Jax.”

“Shit,” he exhaled under his breath.

“I know…and I just left her there,” Allie shook her head, burying her face in his chest to keep herself from shaking. “Even when she started yelling at me and made a scene, I just left her there.”

He pulled her in even closer and pressed his lips into the side of her head. “Allie, you didn’t do anything wrong. You did your mom a favor - she’s safer in lock-up anyway. At least you know where she is. Know she’s gettin’ fed. Know someone’s keepin’ an eye on her. Just think about it that way, baby. You did the right thing.”

“I know,” Allie sighed. “Doesn’t make it any easier though.”

“I know, baby,” Jax murmured into her hair. “I know.”

“You know what the worst part is?”

His lips pressed against her temples, letting his lips linger on her skin. “What’s that?”

“I don’t even feel bad,” she admitted with a heavy sigh, curling into him as he tucked her in underneath his chin. “I mean, after what she did, after the break-in...any feelings I had for her, any sympathy, any understanding, that’s just all gone now. I guess it was the same thing with Wendy today - I was willing to try to help up to a certain point, and now, maybe they both reaped what they’ve sowed, right?”

Jax nodded silently, pressing his lips to her hair again.

“Hey, you know what I was thinking?” Jax murmured, not giving her an opportunity to respond. “I was thinkin’ you and me should get away for a couple days and just take a breather from all this shit. The club has a cabin a couple hours away - I’d really like to take you there, Allie. We could go right after Dan’s wedding, let him have the house to himself for a few days...you could take a day or two off from work and just relax with me...how’s that sound?”

“God, that sounds amazing right now.”

He chuckled against her forehead before pressing his lips there. “Alright. It’s a date.”

She shifted in his arms, just needing to shake this day off her, and really just needing  _ him.  _ It was right on the tip of her tongue to tell him the full extent of how her encounter with his wife today had affected her. The physical, almost violent reaction she’d had to seeing Jax’s last name attached to another woman that way...to know that legally, technically, she really  _ was  _ sleeping with another woman’s husband, even if it was in name only. But telling him that right now wasn’t going to make any of this better, and it definitely wasn’t going to make any of it easier.

She had a feeling, given everything that happened in the last two days, telling him that would only make him feel worse. In any other circumstance, he’d probably be jumping for joy, but not today. And the last thing she wanted to do was make this worse. He’d apologize until he went blue in the face if she let him, and that wasn’t going to make anything better either.

But she had an idea of what might.

“Hey, Jax?”

His lips pressed against her hair, and then he murmured, “Yeah, baby?”

“I think I’m gonna hop in the shower - wash this day off, you know?”

“Okay.”

Allie laughed a little, shifting in his arms so she could prop herself up on her elbow. Obviously, he was still too stuck in a sleep-haze to catch where she was going with this.

“You think you might wanna join me?”

His eyes flashed and then he leapt out of bed, scooping her up and throwing her over his shoulder so he could jog into the bathroom, her laugh echoing all the way down the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - So this chapter tied up some loose ends as we end toward the end (only 4 chapters left!). Both Jax and Allie needed to put those toxic people behind them once and for all, and we won't be seeing Wendy or Allie's mom again. And, because I've been getting some panicked messages and reviews since the very beginning of this story from readers worrying if Wendy was going to pop back up pregnant with Jax's baby, I just couldn't help myself ;)
> 
> The next few chapters are going to help bring this story to its end - we'll see Dan's bachelor party in the next chapter, and his wedding in the one after that, and then we'll finally get to what everyone is waiting for - how Jax is going to handle Harrison.
> 
> It's hard to believe we're almost at the end, but I'm so proud of this story and so grateful you've stuck with me and these characters all these months!


	33. Chapter 33

"How about this one?" Gemma asked, as she held up a particularly expensive bottle of champagne for Allie to see.

Allie bit down on her bottom lip, but finally just decided to go with it, and just shrugged. There was only one chance to get this right anyway and, come hell or high water, she was going to get this right. Her best friend was getting married in three days, and despite the fact that she was _still_ very, very much in shock from that particular development, there also wasn't much she could do about it. Trying to talk Dan out of marrying the love of his life wasn't going to yield the desired results - for any of them. Besides, she'd learned a long time ago that she just needed to shut up when he had his mind made up about something.

"Uh, I think it's fine. He'll probably appreciate that we sprung for some top shelf choices, rather than the alternative."

Gemma just shrugged and put a few bottles in their cart. They still had a few more things to get on their shopping list for tonight's bachelor party festivities, and then they still had to go to the clubhouse and start setting up for the party. All this wedding stuff was just a nightmare and a whirlwind all at the same time. Why anyone would actually _want_ to do it, when you could just skip all this time and work and money, and just focus on being happy with your partner...that was just beyond her.

And, as if Gemma could read her thoughts, she lifted a wary eyebrow at her as she set another bottle of champagne in their cart.

"You look like you're really enjoying all this wedding planning," Gemma told her wryly.

"Oh, you know, besides the fact that my best friend is rushing into something he might seriously regret later, I'm having the time of my life."

"Well," Gemma just lifted a shoulder. "Not much you can do about it anyway. Might as well try to act happy for them though, right?"

That gave Allie some pause, and her lips pulled apart in a grimace. "Do I not seem happy for them?"

Gemma's eyebrows lifted in amusement, but she just shook her head. "Honey, you look a little bit like you're prepping for a funeral right now."

"I'm _trying_ to be happy. I'm _trying_ to look excited, at least around them. I guess I'm not doing a very good job."

"I think you did pretty well in front of Dan today when he was firing off all his assignments. You _do_ have a pretty good poker face and always have, so I think if you just keep leaning into that, and try not to think about anything else, you'll be fine."

Allie ran a hand over her face, still grimacing. "Ugh. That's not a very strong vote of confidence, Gemma."

"Hey," she just laughed. "You're the one who has to figure out how to get through officiating, not me."

"I'm working on it. I really am."

She'd walk through fire for Dan if he asked her to, so becoming an ordained minister online for him yesterday was a piece of cake. And she really was taking the actual job he'd assigned her seriously - she'd spent the better part of last night scouring website after website after website of wedding ceremony templates for ideas on how to even begin to start writing the ceremony script, much to Jax's chagrin. He'd had other ideas for how to spend their time in bed together, but he'd also, somewhat patiently, waited long enough for her to feel like she'd made some headway with the whole thing before promptly shutting her laptop and jumping on top of her.

"Dan also might've mentioned that he and Adrian have an appointment with you tomorrow to sign some paperwork?"

Allie huffed out a laugh, and the best she could do was shrug. "What do you want me to say? If anyone really thought I'd let Dan get married _without_ signing a prenup first, then they don't know me very well. At least he just shut up and agreed to it without much of a fight."

"I suppose that's true," Gemma allowed, but her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "But that does take the romance out of it a little bit, doesn't it?"

She narrowed her eyes just a touch, not particularly appreciating the direction Gemma had taken this conversation. "Maybe. But just so you know, if you and my dad ever decide to tie the knot, it won't be without signing some paperwork either."

"Uh huh," Gemma grinned. _Now_ some of the humor had bounced back in her eyes, and Allie really wasn't liking what she was seeing. "And what about if you and Jax ever decide to tie the knot? Are you gonna make my son sit down and sign some paperwork too?"

Allie just rolled her eyes. "It's not all that different than, say, making sure you have all your estate plans and your powers of attorney in order. It's just a necessary evil to get all your ducks in a row in case you should ever need it. No one _likes_ having to do it, but you do it in the hope that you'll never need it. And if you _do_ need it, then you're glad you've got everything all figured out ahead of time. Just saves everyone time, money, and a lot of headaches."

"That's true," Gemma nodded with a smile, and then she jabbed a pointy nail at Allie. "But you didn't answer my question."

"Jax and I aren't the ones talking about getting married, and I guess, neither are you and my dad, so I'm sorry for dragging you into it."

"Sure," Gemma's grin just widened. "But you _still_ haven't answered my question."

"What do you want me to say, Gemma?" Allie sighed. "If Jax and I ever got married, then _yes_ , I would want a prenup because it's just stupid not to do it. But Jax and I aren't getting married, so we really don't need to have this conversation right now."

"But you want to get married at _some_ point."

"That's not what I said."

"Uh huh," Gemma nodded again, this time lifting an eyebrow at her. "Your dad might've mentioned your feelings on marriage to me at some point, so I'm aware that you may not see that step as a necessary one with my son. But you should probably know, if he hasn't told you yet, that _he_ feels that's a pretty necessary step, at least with _you_."

"Well, I guess that's for us to figure out then, isn't it?"

Gemma immediately held up her hands in defense. "You're right. I didn't mean to overstep - you just walked right into it, you know?"

"Yeah," Allie sighed heavily. "I know."

Suddenly, Gemma was at her side and nudging her in the shoulder. "So that's really something you don't want? With Jax?"

For years, Allie had always believed that marriage was just a societal construct, a patriarchal one at that, which just created unnecessary baggage and expectations on women. Why should she have to, for example, take her husband's last name - and therefore completely forego her own identity while absorbing his - when her husband could just go on through life without having to completely change _his_ identity? Why should they have to stand up in front of some preacher and have some ceremony that really didn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things? Those promises could easily be broken. That contract was one that could easily be dissolved, especially if you had the right paperwork in place ahead of time to make it even easier.

But something had been needling in her ever since that conversation they'd had in the movie theater, and ever since she'd come to the hard realization that just knowing some other woman had Jax's last name, that some other woman was still legally tied to him _mattered_ to her...that had just about knocked her sideways. And then it had happened again when she had the evidence right in front of her face. She'd had to confront that very real reality, whether she liked it or not, that Wendy was still very much Jax's wife, even if in name only. That had _meant_ something - more than she'd ever anticipated or mentally prepared herself for.

And it wasn't just the fact that she was technically sleeping with some other woman's husband. There was more to it than that, and in this moment, Gemma seemed to see all of that written on her face, whether she liked it or not.

"That _is_ something you want, isn't it?" Gemma smiled softly.

Allie just huffed out a laugh, and shook her head. This woman was just non-stop, and by now, she'd learned that there was just no use in trying to hide or trying to act like she didn't know what Gemma was talking about.

"Seeing Wendy Case-Teller written on all those forms when I bailed her out…" Allie trailed off, swallowing hard at what she was about to actually say out loud. "That hit me harder than I'd anticipated."

"I can imagine," Gemma nodded, putting a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "Did you talk to Jax about that? Tell him how that made you feel?"

"No."

When Gemma's lips parted to respond, Allie jumped in to explain: "I didn't want to make him feel worse about everything that happened with Wendy at the precinct. I just didn't see the point in making a bad situation worse, and then it just...hasn't really come up again. I think he's just trying not to upset me any more than I already was by bringing it up and now it's kinda become this thing that we just don't feel like we can talk about without making the other person upset."

Gemma's eyes drifted down to the floor in thought as they ambled closer to the checkout lanes at the grocery store. "I can see why both of you might not want to be the first one to bring it up again, but that being said, that doesn't mean it should be somethin' you two _can't_ talk about. You really _should_ , Allie. He should know where your head's at with all this - and it's not like he's gonna go runnin' out tomorrow and buy you a ring, ya know? 'Cuz you two couldn't get hitched right now even if you wanted to."

"Even if that was something I wanted right now, I don't think it would be right for him to ask me while he's still technically married to someone else, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah," Gemma chuckled lightly. "I suppose _that_ really would take the romance out of it, wouldn't it?"

"It would," Allie smiled, grateful they were finally, at least sort of, on the same page about this and now they could move on. "I guess you're right. I really _should_ tell him how I'm feeling about all that - at least all that stuff with Wendy. I don't want to keep things from him either."

"I know, honey. And that right there is just another reason why I know you two _are_ gonna be just fine. You just gotta keep the lines of communication open, keep talkin' to each other, keep bein' honest with each other, and there's nothin' you two can't handle together."

Allie smiled back at her, but at the same time, she also knew it went both ways. There was something else they weren't talking about too. Something she _knew_ Jax had literally talked to the whole club _and_ her dad about - something that was even more difficult and harder to wrap her head around than all this drama with Wendy. She wanted to know if, once again, she was the last to know, if Jax was purposefully keeping her in the dark.

But it wasn't until they'd checked out and were back in Gemma's SUV that Allie finally found the space and the courage to ask.

"Hey, Gemma?"

"Yeah, honey?"

Allie took a deep breath, and then just let it fly. "I know that Jax told you about...what happened to me."

Gemma's eyes flew to hers, frowning with some concern, and then she immediately shifted her gaze back to the road. "Yeah. He did."

"And did he happen to mention what the club plans to do now? Now that they know everything?"

"What do you mean?" Gemma frowned again.

"Did he tell you anything about what they're gonna do to…" she had to trail off there, unable to finish that sentence.

The reality of _that_ was right there too - the club was most definitely going to do something to Tyler now, but didn't she deserve to know what they'd planned? Didn't she deserve to have some kind of say too? After all, the worst of it had happened to _her_. She wouldn't discount the way Tyler had played the club, and understood they couldn't let that stand, but didn't she deserve to at least know what they planned to do now and have some input in that plan?

"I haven't heard any details, if that's what you mean," Gemma offered slowly. "When he talked to us about everything, he told your dad he was gonna make it right for you. He didn't say how though. Honey...why do you wanna know if he's said anything to me about it?"

At this point, there was no use in being anything but honest. "He hasn't said anything to _me_ about it."

"Ah," Gemma murmured. "I see. Have you asked?"

"No. I don't know that I should have to, though."

Gemma nodded quietly, twisting her hands around the steering wheel now with some anxiety that surprised Allie.

"I guess I was just thinking about what you said," Allie went on. "About Jax and me being honest with each other and keeping the lines of communication open and I think that's something we need to talk about too. I just wanted to see if I was the only one he hadn't said anything to."

"I get it, honey," Gemma smiled softly, her eyes glinting with reassurance. "I really do. You know, I always thought there were two kinds of old ladies - the kind that knew everything because they _needed_ to know, otherwise they'd go crazy and the kind that didn't know anything because they _couldn't_ know, otherwise they'd go crazy. And then you came along, and now I have no idea what an old lady is supposed to do or say anymore."

"Is there a compliment in there somewhere?" Allie laughed. "I feel like that's a bad thing."

"No," Gemma smiled again. "It's not a bad thing. You're just rewriting the rulebook on me, and I wish I knew how to give you better advice. _But_ , that being said, I think you should trust your instincts on this one, honey. If you feel like you need to know, whatever his answer is, then you need to know. You just have to be absolutely sure you can accept whatever that answer is and be prepared to move on. I know you and Jax also have the benefit of client-lawyer confidentiality and all that shit, but you're his old lady now too. If the club already voted on what to do, and they're all in agreement over it, there's nothing you can do about it. And you have to make sure you can accept that before you get the answer to your question."

Allie appraised Gemma uneasily, pressing a smile to her face with a tight nod. There was some good advice in there somewhere. And she knew Gemma's intentions really were well-meaning and coming from a good place. But the only part of what she'd just said that carried any real weight for Allie was that first part.

Not to mention the fact that Allie hadn't actually asked Gemma for advice on this one. She'd just been fishing for information, but maybe that had been her mistake anyway.

She _did_ need to trust her instincts, and she _did_ need to know.

If the club had already made a decision, and she was sure they had, then she deserved to know about it. She deserved some input. She deserved a fucking _say_. This was her life too. It had happened to _her_. And there was one outcome she could accept, and one outcome she couldn't accept. And if Jax really wanted to make this right, and if he really loved her and cared about her, he would take her input and respect her wishes.

She didn't _have_ to accept the club's decision just because she was an old lady. She didn't _have_ to do anything she didn't want to do anyway.

The problem was that she'd been too afraid to ask because she was too afraid she already knew the answer. That answer was just going to lead to another fight and another dilemma and Allie just wasn't ready to put either of them through that again if she could help it.

But she had a feeling their time to stall was about to run out, and sooner or later, that conversation would become an inevitability.

* * *

Allie and Dan walked down the long hallway to the clubhouse's main floor hand in hand. Loud music was already blaring through the speakers - a selection from Prince, on Dan's pre-approved playlist of course - so much in fact, that Allie could feel the little hairs on her arms lift up from the vibration.

"Are you ready for this or what?" Allie murmured in his ear. "You look absolutely fabulous, by the way."

Dan just lifted a shoulder, patting his hair nonchalantly with his free hand before moving it down to smooth the nonexistent wrinkles in his three-piece grey suit. "Of course I do."

They'd completely taken over Jax's dorm for a few hours before the party was due to start so Dan could _prepare,_ and also so Dan could snoop a little, but Allie had mostly kept him on track so they could make it out to the main floor on time.

"Everything is all set to your specifications," Allie told him with a nervous smile. "The karaoke machine is ready. Your champagne has been poured. Your guests are waiting. Now all you have to do is show up and have the night of your life."

Now all _she_ had to do was survive this night with her nerves and her self-respect intact. This would mark the first clubhouse party she'd been to since she started working for the club, not to mention her first official clubhouse party as the club president's old lady, and there was no room for error at this point. Sure, there were plenty of people from the studio here too, and that would create a nice little buffer, but that was only going to take her so far.

She needed to be calm and cool and poised, yet still present in the moment and ready to have fun. She couldn't look or act stiff, but everyone at that party also knew she wasn't going to have so much as a sip of all that champagne. She _also_ needed to juggle her dual role as best friend of the bride-to-be and make sure this night really did make all of Dan's dreams come true.

It was going to be a tightrope walk, that was for sure. At least she was lucky enough to know that Jax, Gemma, and Lyla all had her back tonight too.

And if everything went as planned, Dan would forever and always be the center of attention tonight - just as he should be - and little to no attention would be paid to her. The fact that this was really Dan's night also gave her the out of whether to sleep at the clubhouse too. Since it was Dan's night, he'd opted to sleep in his own bed, and definitely _not_ in one of the beds at the clubhouse, which wasn't a bad choice in Allie's opinion, and since she definitely wasn't going to be drinking tonight, she had the honor of driving him home. She'd be driving Jax by default too, and she could only imagine the _fun_ she was bound to have later tonight in trying to wrangle both of them to her car and to their respective beds, but that was her job and also her responsibility for the night too.

Such was life.

It was _also_ lucky that, seeing as this was Dan's night and also not a Friday, several of the club members had opted to spend their evening elsewhere, namely Piney and Happy. Those were the two that still made her nervous - because she knew _exactly_ how Piney felt about her and she just preferred to keep her distance and because Happy...well, he just stared and stared and stared with no expression, ever. So, she was okay with both of them choosing to go elsewhere.

But now it was time, and as Dan adjusted the pink bedazzled bride-to-be crown on his head, they stepped out onto the clubhouse's main floor where the guests were waiting for them. As soon as they came into view, the crowd waiting for them erupted into a cacophony of happy cheers. Dan, of course, lapped up the attention, gingerly putting a hand over his heart in faux-embarrassment as Allie led him out deeper onto the floor and as some actors from the studio, Lyla included, descended on him to shower him with hugs and a few kisses.

Right now, there were just too many people around them for her to really make heads or tails of who was actually around her, or where anyone, specifically, was around here in the clubhouse. From the corner of her eye, she thought she saw some black leather heading toward them, but that pretty quickly turned out to be Gemma, who practically leapt on top of Dan, wrapping her legs all the way around his waist to help usher him into his party.

Eventually, though, Allie wrangled Dan over to the bar so he could get his first drink, and she grinned gratefully at the prospect behind the bar when he set a can of Diet Coke down in front of her without her even needing to ask for it.

"Thank you. I appreciate that," Allie told him with a smile, and then she gestured to Dan, and the small group of his actor buddies who'd crowded alongside him. "And can you get them all a round of tequila shots, please?"

He just sent her a tight, respectful nod. "Sure thing, ma'am."

As he turned on his heel to get to work on those shots, Dan immediately turned to her, reaching out to grab her hand to pull her in closer, and cackled in her ear, "He called you _ma'am_. Oh my God, I can't handle it. I _can't_ handle it."

"Oh, shut up," Allie batted a hand at him while the prospect started setting out the shot glasses. But just as she remembered she'd forgotten to tell the prospect she didn't need a shot, the prospect set a glass in front of Dan, and then bypassed her completely before setting a shot down next to the actor who'd sidled up on the other side of her.

"Ooo," Dan cooed in her ear in a sing-song voice. "Look at that. _Someone_ gave all these guys some instructions about you now, didn't he? Looks like someone _likes_ you…"

"Alright, alright," Allie laughed. "This is _not_ about me in any way, shape, or form tonight. Let's move on from that, and just focus on that shot in front of you, okay? That's gonna be the first of many, so you'd better get your game face on because I don't think tequila and champagne are gonna mix very well for you."

Dan just lifted a sassy shoulder, grinning smugly at something over her head, and then he took her note and turned his attention to the shot in front of him. Allie grinned happily as she watched the whole line of people to her left clink their glasses together and take their shots...and then she felt some soft flannel brush against the side of her bare arm. She didn't need to turn to know who was now standing to her right, but she shifted just enough to see a pair of folded ringed hands connected to a pair of flannel-covered forearms leaning up against the counter.

Just that alone was enough to send a full-body shiver right through her.

And because she just couldn't help herself, she bit down on her bottom lip, a little surprised by how shy she suddenly felt when she knew she had nothing to feel shy about, and then she finally let herself turn all the way to meet him in the eye. She found Jax already watching her, his navy blue eyes sparkling as some amusement worked its way across his achingly handsome face.

Jax kept his eyes on her as he leaned forward, sliding her Diet Coke toward him just enough so he could crack it open, and then slid it back in front of her.

"Thanks," she murmured, leaning into him so her shoulder kissed the soft flannel on his left arm.

"You know me," he smirked. "I'm just a full-service host, darlin'."

She huffed out a laugh, even as he draped an arm around her shoulders and tucked her in closer to him. His lips brushed the side of her head, and then the second her head turned just enough to give him an opening, he swooped in, dipping his head down to capture her lips in a kiss that was as brief as it was filled with the anticipation he had to have been feeling the entire time they'd been apart today. She'd felt it too - having only seen him briefly when she got back to the clubhouse with Gemma after their trip to the grocery store, and now that he was standing next to her, that missing piece slid right back into place.

"Missed you," he whispered in her ear, pressing a kiss into her forehead now.

"I missed you too," Allie smiled. "Your prospect behind the bar has been very respectful and polite, by the way."

Jax's eyebrows lifted knowingly. "Good to hear."

Her eyes flicked to the e-cigarette he was bringing up to his lips, and she couldn't stop the way her lips curled up in amusement. Jax caught that immediately, rolling his eyes up to the ceiling, and took another long drag from his e-cig, his lips curving playfully as he made the end of it glow bright.

She took that moment to let her gaze drift over her shoulder to take everything in. The last time she'd been in the clubhouse when it was this packed was for Opie and Lyla's wedding about three years ago, and since then, the only times she'd really been inside, the atmosphere was pretty tame, pretty low-key. Of course, most of the time, she was showing up for a business meeting during normal work hours when most of these people were still probably passed out from the night before.

This change in scenery really hadn't altered the easy party dynamic the club and the studio had managed to find over these last few months. Both groups co-mingled effortlessly, drinking, chatting, playing pool, and enjoying the party together. The only addition, and real outliers of the party, though, was the small group of scantily-clad, big-haired women crowding near one of the pool tables as if they, too, understood that they didn't quite mix with the rest of the partygoers. They certainly weren't actors from the studio, and judging by the way the majority of them were staring directly at her, and the way Jax's arm was lazily draped around her shoulders and the way his lips kept possessively finding the side of her head, it was pretty clear to Allie just what that particular group of women were.

Jax's eyes followed her gaze, and he lifted his eyebrows at her again before dipping his lips back down to her. "The best way to handle that over there is just to ignore them, baby. That's what I do."

"Okay," Allie laughed, leaning in to kiss him again just because she knew they were being watched right now. "I was thinking of going for frosty but polite indifference. Do you think that will work instead?"

His lips quirked up into an impressed smirk. "That works too. And that's all you gotta do - no matter what Gemma tells you, a'ight? Don't let 'em get to you, 'cuz I don't. Just remember you got nothin' to worry about and if any of them say somethin' stupid to you, just let me know and I'll take care of it."

"Oh, I think I can handle myself just fine, thank you very much."

"Trust me, I know," Jax laughed, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. " _But_ if any of them say somethin' stupid to you, I wanna know about it _after_ you handle it."

"Deal," she nodded with a grin.

Jax's lips parted to respond, but by then, someone - probably Tig - had handed Dan the karaoke microphone, and he was currently in the process of using Allie's shoulder to hoist himself up onto the bar in a sitting position.

"Don't worry, friend," Dan whispered to Jax. "I'd _never_ disrespect your clubhouse by standing on your bar."

"Go on, bro," Jax tipped his chin to him with a shit-eating grin. "This is your night. Get up there if you want."

Dan's face split into a devilish smile and he was never one who needed to be told twice. He hopped up onto the bar, to the crowd's delight, microphone expertly posed in his hand, and he tipped his head back like Elvis, readying himself for his first performance of the night. Allie cupped her hands over her mouth, cheering and egging him on at the same time, as Jax just tucked her in even deeper underneath his shoulder, clearly reveling in the atmosphere and the fact that she was here, sharing it with him.

" _Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the eighth wonder of the world,"_ Dan rapped along with Jay-Z as the crowd roared, and Allie lifted her arms over head to cheer him on. " _The flow of the century...you coulda been anywhere in the world tonight,"_ the natural performer in him ate this up as he pointed his finger at the crowd, " _but you're here with me. I appreciate that. H to the izz-O, V to the izz-A. Fo' shizzle my nizzle used to dribble down in VA. That's the anthem, get'cha damn hands UP!"_

He worked the crowd, throwing in a moonwalk or two right on top of the bar as he ran through the rest of the song, and the one time he reached down to try to pull Allie up onto the bar with him, and she started to shake her head immediately - there was _no_ way she was doing that for so many reasons it wasn't even funny - a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist to haul her away from the bar and out of Dan's reach. Dan only pouted for a second, but then he got back to getting his groove on, dancing like Bruno Mars as he rapped the rest of the song at the top of his lungs.

And as it turned out, Allie really hadn't had anything to worry about. The only time Jax ever really left her side was when Dan pulled her away to dance with him on the makeshift dance floor in the center of the room, or when Dan or one of his club brothers pulled him away to take a shot at the bar. But he was always there, with a hand at her back, or his voice whispering in her ear, or his lips on the side of her head. She knew exactly what he was doing - making it clear to everyone inside this clubhouse that they were _together_ and that he had no interest in anyone else inside or outside the clubhouse either - and if anything, that just made her have more fun, and feel more confident inside these walls and surrounded by these people.

There _was_ something about being here like this with him that felt natural, that felt like this was just where she was supposed to be. Her place was with him, and his place was with her.

That couldn't have been clearer to her tonight.

Eventually, she found herself roped into a game of pool while Dan happily danced the night away with some of the other actors and a few of the croweaters who'd long since settled into the night, while keeping a careful distance away from Allie. She'd been teamed off with Juice and Opie, with Jax playing with Bobby and Tig, and even then, she wondered if some of this was by design too. Slowly but surely, she was being brought more into the fold, carefully tucked in with protective layers and mindful consideration of her comfort level. Just when she thought she couldn't love Jax more…

And when Gemma and Jimmy, who'd mostly kept his distance from her up until now, somehow ended up in the booth right across from their pool table with their mouths attached to each other and their limbs wrapped around each other shamelessly like they were teenagers instead of grown adults well over 50, Jax glanced over his shoulder to see what she was gaping at, and then playfully stepped to his left to block that horror show from her view.

When she just laughed and shook her head at him, Jax tipped his chin to her and puckered up his lips to throw an air kiss her way.

And then, when Chibs sidled up to Tig by their pool table to murmur something in his ear, prompting Tig to immediately set his poolstick down and head toward that long, dark hallway with Chibs and two actors from the studio - one of which also happened to be _male_ \- Allie felt Jax's eyes on her when she nudged Juice with her elbow.

"Look at that," Allie gestured with her head toward the hallway and the four retreating forms, who were clearly on a mission tonight. "Did I tell you, or did I _tell_ you?"

Juice's eyes just about popped out of his head when all that really sank in for him, and he ran a hand over his face with a laugh. "Aw shit. I think you were right, Allie. You were really fuckin' right."

"I'm always right," Allie just shrugged. "And I was _definitely_ right about that."

By now, their little side conversation had also gotten Bobby and Opie's attention, and Opie frowned at her playfully, hooking a thumb toward the hallway.

"Right about what, Al?" Opie asked, a grin playing on his lips as he leaned into his poolstick.

She glanced at Juice, and he just shrugged, rubbing a grin away from his face.

"Allie here thinks Tig and Chibs really _wanted_ to cross swords that time they lost their shit and turned the clubhouse into a war zone and…" Juice tipped his head from side to side as his eyes followed the four retreating forms. "I think she might've been right about that."

Opie's eyebrows flew into his forehead, but Bobby was already doubled-over in laughter with both hands hitched to his knees. He couldn't even stand up straight long enough to get another look at the hallway as he wiped a tear from his eye. Jax, for his part, was joining right in along with their laughter but there was a proud glint in his eyes too that was hard to miss.

She was fitting in just fine here. There was no awkwardness at all, and maybe part of that was due to Piney's absence, but Allie wasn't going to complain about _that_. No one seemed to be working through how to approach her or even talk to her, with this new dual role of her professional and personal connection to their club president, and if anything, they were friendly and just all in all, pretty easy to be around. Even Chibs and Tig, before they took off on their little adventure together, who she was aware still harbored some misgivings about their arrangement, had still been cordial and generally polite to her.

And if any of them were treating her with kid gloves _only_ because of the very personal history they now knew about her, none of them showed it.

Over the next few hours, the atmosphere _did_ deteriorate pretty quickly as the crowd started to dwindle. Some people found a corner, or a booth like where Gemma and Jimmy had still camped out, had just disappeared completely, or were just making out against the bar, but the mood shifted from a bachelor party to a hook-up party - and she had a feeling _all_ parties at the clubhouse typically ended like this anyway. Opie and Lyla had long ago called it a night and went home, Tig and Chibs still hadn't materialized from that dark hallway, Gemma and Jimmy's lips were still cemented together in that booth, and eventually, that just left the man of the hour, and Jax and Allie, standing at the bar.

"One more!" Dan drunkenly purred, and he sliced his arm in front of Allie to make his point.

"Aw, bro, I dunno," Jax slurred, swaying a little from side to side as he clutched the edge of the bar to help himself stay upright. "I think I gotta quit for the night. I don't wanna puke in the house, ya know?"

"Or in my car," Allie added helpfully.

Jax wagged a finger at her, nodding heavily. "That's right. I don't wanna do that either. I'll never hear the end of it if I do, bro."

"Come _on_ ," Dan hitched a hand on his hip bitchily. "This is my bachelor party, and it's almost over, and I just wanna do one more shot, and this one," he jerked his thumb at Allie, "isn't gonna do one with me, so all I'm left with is you, friend. _Besides,_ you're a motorcycle man. Don't tell me you can't handle one more tequila shot 'cuz I won't believe it."

"Alright, alright, _alright_ ," Jax gave in almost instantly, and pounded his fist into the bartop. "Prospect! Two more tequila shots and a Diet Coke for my lady."

"10-4, prez," the prospect behind the bar nodded to him and got to work. He caught Allie's attention immediately as she stealthily shook her head at him, signaling that she really didn't want that soda, and he just grinned at her.

"You know what I love?" Dan slurred heavily, slinging an arm around Jax's shoulder. He didn't give Jax a chance to respond. "That little kid right there has been calling your ol' lady _ma'am,_ like literally _all night_. Isn't that just fucking amazing?"

Jax barked out a laugh and clapped a hand on Dan's shoulder. "That's fuckin' right he's callin' her ma'am and shit. He knows better than to do anything but show her nothin' but respect."

"Oh boy," Allie muttered under her breath.

"It's cute," Dan laughed, resting his chin on his palm as the prospect set two shotglasses in front of them. "I said you're _cute."_

Allie just shook her head at the whole thing while Jax waved the now red-faced prospect away and handed Dan his shot.

"I like how you do that," Dan told him, mimicking Jax's movements. "Just waving your minions away like a king. Teach me."

"Nah, bro," Jax laughed. "You got it down. You're better at it than me though," then he tipped his chin to the shot in Dan's hand as he lifted his own up in the air. "To my ol' lady's best friend, you're a helluva a guy, and I'm glad I know ya, bro."

"Awww," Dan exclaimed, tapping his free hand to his heart. "That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me. You are just the cutest little biker man I've ever met in my life!"

Jax just shook his head with a wide grin as they clicked their glasses together, and then tipped back their glasses before slamming them back down on the bar. He winced, squinting back at Allie with one eye open as he groped for her, swinging and missing on the first try, but making contact with her hip on the second one.

"I don't know about you, bro," Jax mumbled as his fist dug down into the bar so he could steady himself. "But I think it might be time to head home."

"Uh huh," Dan grimaced, still feeling the effects of that last shot, but he still managed a nod. "I think you might be right."

Since there really wasn't anyone left on the main floor that was coherent enough to need to say goodbye to, they headed for the exit. It took all of about three seconds for Dan to hop onto Jax's back, and then Jax took off across the parking lot, with Dan riding piggy-back until he literally ran right into Allie's car.

"Oh shit!" Jax called out, glancing over his shoulder at her in a little bit of a panic. "I didn't scratch it, I swear, darlin'!"

"He didn't!" Dan chimed in from on top of Jax's back.

"Wow," Allie muttered to herself, but she was still grinning. If she'd been getting along with everyone inside the clubhouse tonight, then Jax and Dan had been getting along like peas and carrots. Even if she had to deal with their drunk asses, the pure entertainment value was worth it.

She hit the unlock button on her key fob, and Jax took it upon himself to gingerly set Dan down on the pavement, opened her back door, and helped Dan climb into the backseat, careful to push his feet all the way in before shutting the door behind him.

"That was nice of you, Jax," Allie laughed as she pulled open the driver's side door.

"I gotta take care of my bro," Jax slurred again with a shrug before dropping down into the passenger seat.

"Hey, Alexandra," Dan called out from the backseat. "I love you, you know."

"I know," Allie laughed, and shook her head as she pulled out of the parking lot and started down the street to head home. "I love you too, Daniel. I'm glad you had a good night."

"The _best_ night," he sighed. "I'm sad it's over."

"Me too, bro," Jax agreed. He pushed his head back against his headrest and squeezed his eyes shut. "Shit, it was a damn good night, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was," she smiled, turning her head to find Jax already shifting his head to meet her in the eye. Through the glazed-over blue eyes, there was still a tenderness and a softness in them that had her reaching out to him. But he beat her to it, lifting her right hand from the steering wheel so he could brush his lips against her knuckles.

"Awww," Dan cooed from the backseat. "You looove her, don't you?"

Jax's eyes never left hers. "Yes, I do."

"That's all I ever wanted for you, my sweet little Alexandra," Dan sighed happily. "Hey! Let's play a game! You wanna know why I love you, Alexandra? 'Cuz you let me try on your Louboutins that one time and you _didn't_ scratch my eyes out when I scuffed the toe."

Allie huffed out a laugh, but she played along. It _was_ technically still his night after all, even if it was well past midnight. "Trust me, Daniel. On the inside, I was screaming. _Screaming_. I still don't really know how you managed to squeeze in them though. Hey, you wanna know why I love you? 'Cuz you make me breakfast every morning and if you didn't, I'd go hungry every day."

"This is true," Dan allowed. "Although I don't know what you two crazy kids are gonna do when I move out after the wedding. I think you just might starve in that house without me _or_ eat takeout for every meal. _Probably_ takeout for every meal."

"Hey, I can cook," Jax jumped in. "I'll cook if Allie cleans."

"That's right," she laughed heartily. "You made me scrambled eggs that one time."

But underneath this light conversation was the added heaviness lingering in the truth of Dan's words. He _would_ be moving out soon, and it was so bittersweet. Too bittersweet. She wanted her and Jax to have the whole house to themselves, but she also didn't want to lose that connection to Dan either. Because as soon as he was married off and living with his new husband, all that would change too.

"Hmm," Dan sighed again from the backseat. "Well, I liked being roommates with you two while it lasted. It was fun, wasn't it?"

Allie glanced at him from over her shoulder, finding him laying down on the backseat, staring back at her with glassy, but tender eyes. "Yeah, Daniel. It was fun while it lasted. But you were never roommates with Jax, you loser."

"Uh, that's not true. Just because he doesn't pay you rent - like _moi_ \- doesn't mean he doesn't live with us. Which, now that I think of it, friend, you've been living with us, what - three months now? Four months? I've lost track. Anyway, you've _never_ paid rent to our sweet little Alexandra - I want that deal. But I guess I'd have to sleep with you then, wouldn't I, and Lord knows I'm not doing _that_."

She just shook her head at him with a wry smile, daring a glance at Jax only to find him already watching her again with the side of his face pressed up against the passenger seat. He lifted his eyebrows at her as his lips curled into a sexy smirk, but then she just shook her head at him too, making him huff out a laugh.

By the time she pulled into the garage, Dan was knee-deep in a Lady Gaga song, with Jax crouched down in the passenger seat with his eyes squeezed shut in an effort to make it stop. But still, as soon as she shut her car off, Jax was out of the car and grabbing the back of Dan's legs to help pull him out of the backseat. His full-service hosting gig didn't stop there, as Dan proceeded to hop on his back again, and then Jax carried him piggy-back style all the way through the house and then up the stairs as Dan sang "Love Game" at the top of his lungs, giving particular emphasis to the line about taking a ride on a disco stick.

He dumped Dan onto his bed, with Allie right on his heels, and Dan didn't hesitate to snuggle up to his pillow, still dressed in his full three-piece grey suit and bedazzled bride-to-be crown.

"Night, bro," Jax waved to him with a loopy grin. "Did you have fun?"

"Yes! It was the _best_ night. Thank you, thank you, _thank you_ for letting me have my party at your clubhouse, Mr. President. I _thoroughly_ enjoyed myself."

Jax just laughed as he dragged the small waste basket in the corner of the room right next to Dan's bed and patted him on the shoulder. "That's good to hear. That's what I wanted for ya. Here's your trash can in case you need it later. We'll see ya in the morning, bro. I'm gonna go pass out in my bed now."

He shot Dan one more goofy wave before disappearing down the hallway. Allie watched his retreating form head straight for their bedroom, but was drawn away when Dan started tugging on her hand. He pulled her face right down to him, and she winced a little at the alcohol wafting from his breath.

"Ugh, Daniel," she laughed playfully. "You gotta brush your teeth."

"Okay," he grinned, and then he started singing softly to her, " _Thank you for being a friend. Travelled down the road and back again. Your heart is true. You're a pal and a confidante."_

Allie chuckled as she patted him lightly on the head. "I love you too, Daniel."

"Night night, my sweet darling girl," he whispered back to her when she leaned in to kiss him on the forehead. "P.S., I like your boyfriend. Well, not _like_ him, like him. You know what I mean. I liked him before tonight, but I _really_ like him now."

"Good," she smiled down at him. "I like him too. I like Adrian too, but you already knew that."

"Uh huh. Now, go away from here. I can't keep my damn eyes open. Hey, are you guys gonna...you know, have _sex_? If you are, please shut my door tight. I can hear you guys sometimes, you know."

Allie just laughed again, shaking her head as she headed for the door. "Night, Daniel."

"Night, Alexandra!"

She shut the door behind her with a soft click, and then tiptoed to her bedroom, knowing Jax was probably already snoring in their bed. Sure enough, she found him face down on his pillow, still fully clothed, and snoring softly. She smiled a little at the sight - that really would _never_ get old - and she moved closer to him so she could slip his white sneakers off his feet.

That made him stir against his pillow, and he turned his head just enough to smirk at her.

"Hey," he murmured. "You wanna know why I love you, baby?"

Allie laughed lightly, tilting her head to the side as he reached out with a ringed hand to pull her closer to him. "Why?"

"'Cuz you take my shoes off for me when I'm drunk," he grinned goofily up at her. "And 'cuz you've let me live here for, like, four months rent-free."

"Is that it?"

"No," Jax chuckled heartily, drawing her even closer to the side of the bed so he could bring her knuckles up to his lips. "I think it'd take me a full 24 hours to list out all the reasons why I love you, and even then I'd probably still need more time. But, hey, I've been thinkin' now that my house is pretty much squared away."

"Oh boy."

Gemma had personally dropped off the new divorce settlement that Allie had drawn up for Jax and Wendy, which completely turned the house over to Jax so he could do what he wanted with it, and also eliminated any possibility of spousal support - Allie had added that in there just to make absolutely sure Wendy knew she was completely cut off from here on out. Gemma had also happily reported back that Wendy appeared to be moving her things out of the house, and that she also hadn't trashed the house in the process. Once the prospects were done cleaning it up, they'd be able to put it on the market and hopefully unload it sooner rather than later.

But all that being said, she also had a pretty good idea where Jax's head was at with all this, and she was ready for it.

"And," Jax went on with a grin. "I was thinkin' that once I've got the money back from sellin' it that I'd take that money and put it into our house to, you know, cover my part of the mortgage or, at least _part_ of it."

"Jax, you don't -"

"Don't tell me I don't have to," he wagged a finger at her playfully. "Because I _do._ I live here too and we all know it. And when Dan moves out, it's just gonna be you and me, baby, and I'm no free-loader."

For anyone else, her general legal advice would be to never, _ever_ put that kind of money into your partner's house if you weren't married, or if you didn't have some kind of property agreement drawn up ahead of time. But even she knew these circumstances were different, that even if they weren't married, and even if they never actually got married, they were in this together for the rest of their lives. Allie also wasn't exactly keen to bring up the topic of marriage with him either, especially when he was drunk.

"Hmm," she mused, tilting her head to the side a little again as he smiled up at her. "So does this mean you're gonna be moving all your stuff in now?"

"Aw, baby," he laughed. "We both know your shit's way nicer than my shit. I'm better off gettin' rid of all the shit in that house and pocketin' the cash and just enjoying your way nicer shit."

Allie just huffed out a laugh and shook her head at him, smiling again when he just kept brushing his lips against her knuckles. "Well, I'm sure you've got _something_ you want to bring to the house. And you can, you know. You're right...Dan's right...I think you basically started living here that first night you stayed over after the wrap party. We just kinda skirted around the issue, didn't we?"

"Didn't wanna push you, baby," he murmured sleepily. "But I don't care where we live, just as long as I'm sleepin' with you every night. You want a new house, we can get a new house. You want a _bigger_ house, we can get a bigger house. Whatever makes you happy, just as long as I'm with you."

"I think I like this house just fine," she grinned back. "I think I like it even better now that you're here in it."

"I like it too," he told her with a tender smile. "I really do. You've got stellar taste, baby, and I'm really movin' up in the world with you next to me. Sometimes I don't know how in the hell I ended up with you - maybe I got lucky, maybe it was just meant to be, I don't fuckin' know - but I'm grateful every fucking day, and I'll never take it for granted. I promise you that."

"That's good to know. You're awfully sweet when you're drunk, you know that?"

Jax scrunched up his nose a little and scrubbed his free hand over his face. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to get so wasted tonight - I didn't wanna do that in front of you."

"Hey," she laughed. "It's okay. Like I said, you're pretty sweet when you're drunk. I mean, you're normally pretty sweet anyway, but you're, like, extra sweet right now."

"Just love you, I guess," he sighed, dropping his hand away from his face so he could wink at her. "I'm tired, but I don't wanna fall asleep until you're next to me."

"Alright, Jax," she smiled again, leaning down to press her lips into his forehead. "Gimme two minutes and I'll be right back."

He rolled over on his side with his head propped up in his elbow, watching her move around the other side of the room so she could shimmy out of her dress, throw one of his T-shirts on, wash her face, and brush her teeth, and then she crawled back into bed with him, throwing a blanket over the top of them as he wrapped his arms around her to draw her in even closer.

"Love you baby," he whispered, his lips in her hair. "You were a fuckin' smoke show tonight, just in case I forgot to tell you. I _really_ liked whatever makeup you had on your eyes too - I think you should wear that stuff more often, at least for me."

"You like a smokey eye, huh?"

"Whatever it was, it was fuckin' hot. Hey, did you have fun tonight? In the clubhouse? It was okay, right?"

She laughed at the sudden barrage of questions, but she knew what Jax was really after. This night was just as important to him as it had been to her, for pretty much the same reasons too. He wanted her to feel comfortable there, not just with him, but with everything and everyone else that was there too. He wanted, _and_ he needed her, to be his old lady in every way, both inside and outside of the clubhouse, and she wanted that too.

They were partners in this. They'd chosen each other, and they'd somehow managed to figure out how to fit into each other's lives, even if on paper it didn't seem like they would mesh. The attorney and the outlaw MC president, figuring it out one day at a time, one hurdle at a time, because there just was no alternative. There was no one else for her, and she knew there was no one else for him.

She hadn't even blinked at those other girls who'd shot daggers at her all night because she knew they were just a non-issue. Maybe at some point, one of them would do or say something she didn't appreciate, but Allie could handle it when that day came.

"Yeah, Jax," she whispered to him. "I had fun. I really did. And I'd definitely do it again the next time you want me to be there. I _can't_ say I really want to spend the night in your dorm anytime soon, but that's a different conversation for a different day."

Jax's lips curled up into a victorious smirk, and then he leaned in to brush his mouth against hers. "Alright, baby. I'll take the wins where I can get them. You just let me know when you're ready to try crashin' there and we'll do it."

"Okay," she smiled, lifting her chin up so she could kiss him again. "And thank you, by the way. I had fun tonight because of you. I hope you know that."

He didn't respond, choosing instead to draw her in underneath his chin so their bodies were completely flush against each other, and let his lips linger in her hair.

Gemma had been wrong about some things today, and Allie was already getting better at sifting through what advice was worth taking, and what advice needed to be set aside and forgotten about. But one thing she _had_ been right about was communication. They were pretty good at that already, and got a little better at it every day. Allie knew, deep in her bones, that if they could just keep the lines of communication open like they already were, and kept talking to each other, and being honest with each other, there really was nothing they couldn't handle together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - There are only three chapters left! This has been a really crazy journey, not just for the characters - but for me in writing it too ;) I actually wrote the last two chapters last weekend and have been sort of in a little bit of a fog because I finished it, and because it's over (at least for me since I'm done writing it). This chapter took care of some business and I hope it feels like things are starting to wrap up, and that Jax and Allie are already, with three chapters still to go, in a happy and solid place. The next chapter is Dan's wedding!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's stuck with this, and to everyone who's found it along the way! I'd love to hear your thoughts on Dan's bachelor party!


	34. Chapter Thirty-Four

Three days after the bachelor party at the clubhouse, Allie stood at the very back of the studio's production floor, which had been turned into a Gatsby-esque dance hall, complete with everything Dan's little heart had ever desired for his wedding. She gripped Dan's hand, noting that it was just a _tiny_ bit sweaty, as he shifted anxiously from side to side next to her in his trim black suit and skinny white tie.

As the strains of Lady Gaga's version of "Your Song" hummed from the speakers on the production floor, the rest of the bridal party took their place in front of them, just as Dan peeked out from around the long white curtain that separated them from the rest of the floor, and where the wedding was about to take place.

"Oh my God, there are so many people," Dan muttered and then fanned himself underneath his armpits. "Is it just me, or is it really hot in here all of a sudden?"

"It's a little warm in here," Allie agreed helpfully, gripping his hand a little tighter to pull him along.

Lyla turned around from her place in line and wrapped her arms around Dan, whispering something in his ear, and then it was her turn to step around the curtain and make her way down the aisle with her cute little baby bump, leaving just Dan and Allie standing behind the curtain all on their own.

Dan swallowed hard, his eyes flitting shut for just a moment. "I wish my parents were here."

"I know, Daniel," she nodded, squeezing his hand again for support. "But I'm here. And I'll _always_ be here."

His dark eyes were swimming as he glanced down at their intertwined hands. "And you're all the family I'll ever need."

Tears pricked her eyes then, but she quickly batted them down. She still had the whole ceremony to get through, and if she messed up Dan's meticulously-applied makeup, he just might take that bouquet in his hand and beat her over the head with it.

He'd been so keyed up this morning, so fluttering around with nerves, that he'd nearly made them late for the ceremony with his overbearing need to make sure everyone's makeup was on point. For Allie, he'd chosen a delicate smokey eye with just a little bit of glitter, mainly because he'd figured out pretty quickly that Jax had liked the makeup he'd done for her at the bachelor party. And because he'd just needed something to do with his hands, and something to keep him preoccupied until the ceremony, he'd done the makeup for the rest of the bridal party too.

He'd also taken great care in choosing both of their outfits - a black bespoke suit for him, and a satin black suit for her, with fitted pencil pants and a matching suit jacket that was cut just right so that all she needed was a black bra underneath it.

Just then, one of the actors poked his head around the curtain, signalling to them that it was their turn to walk down the aisle, and Allie pushed down the little butterflies scampering around in her stomach. She'd rehearsed about a thousand times and basically had the whole thing memorized, so all she had to do now was deliver it without a hitch. Easy.

"Alright," she nodded to him. "I think it's time, huh?"

Dan just blew out a deep breath in response as he shifted again from side to side.

"Hey," Allie smiled. "I love you."

That seemed to break through most of Dan's anxiety, and a grin slipped across his handsome face as he squeezed her hand. "I love you too."

She gestured with her head to the curtain, and then led him around it just as the crowd in front of them rose to its feet. With Dan on her left, clutching his bouquet, she nodded to him again with a happy, reassuring smile, taking in this moment for her best friend. Everyone in this room was here just for him, and for Adrian, and she didn't want him to miss a second of it.

Then she led him down the aisle as Lady Gaga sang through the speakers, and he really did savor the moment, and the attention, making sure to really look out at the guests and catch their gaze in a silent _thank you_ for showing up for him today. When they got right up to the altar, where Adrian and his best men were waiting for them, she caught a glimpse of Jax to the left, where Gemma, Jimmy, and the rest of the club were standing on Dan's side as they watched them walk down the aisle. Jax had that sexy smirk twisting his lips, and he shot her a wink when their eyes met from across the aisle.

Finally, they made it up to the altar. Allie gingerly passed Dan's hand to Adrian, taking a moment to hug him and kiss him on the cheek, but even _that_ felt momentous, giving away her best friend to the man of his dreams, who he was going to spend the rest of his life with, who he couldn't be more sure about, despite the seemingly unnecessary rush through all this.

The way Adrian was looking at Dan right now...she got it. She really did. Adrian was looking at Dan like he hung the moon and the stars, like he was just in awe of even being in Dan's presence, like he was just _honored_ to even be standing next to Dan right now. There was so much love radiating between them now, that Allie was just immediately pulled into the undertow of it all, tossing and turning with this kaleidoscope of emotions.

But she pulled herself together, swallowing back the fresh tears that pricked her eyes, and she moved around the altar to stand behind the little podium, where her ceremony script was waiting for her.

Allie cleared her throat, adjusted the microphone, and then her eyes flicked out to the crowd, quickly landing on exactly who she was looking for. Jax grinned back at her instantly, that megawatt smile spreading deeper across his handsome face when he sent her a quick nod of encouragement. That look she'd just seen on Adrian's face...she'd seen that look on Jax's face too when he looked at her. And that gave her the push she needed to carry on.

So, with a deep breath, she began the ceremony.

"Welcome, everyone," she said into the microphone, trying not to wince when she heard her voice echo through the speakers. But Allie chose instead to focus on the two men in front of her, and the task before her. She'd never failed at anything before, and there was no way she was going to start now. After giving herself one more moment to glance between Dan and Adrian, who by now were standing with their hands joined together, beaming love and excitement back at each other, the rest of it came naturally, and her nerves slipped away.

"Dan and Adrian have chosen each one of you to witness their wedding vows today as they join together as life partners and as husbands."

She had to pause there as the guests, most of them actors and crew members from the studio, cheered for Dan and Adrian with loud whoops of love and encouragement.

"Marriage is a bold step into an unknown future," Allie went on with a smile, her voice and her hands shaking ever so slightly. "It is risking who we are for the sake of who we can be. In marriage, two lives are intimately shared, and the blending of the two must not diminish either one. Instead, it should enhance the individuality of each partner."

Then she had to swallow hard as the words, and the meaning and the _truth_ behind them, began to hit her in full force. She'd been completely unprepared for that, and _she'd_ been the one to write this script, albeit with lots and lots of help from the internet. Marriage didn't necessarily mean she had to lose her identity - or that her partner would lose his identity too. It was supposed to make them each better and stronger, both together and as individuals. Maybe that was the part she hadn't really allowed herself to accept until right now.

"We know that a marriage is not created by a law or a ceremony. It occurs in the hearts of two human beings. It grows out of loving, caring, and sharing ourselves with another. This ceremony is not magic. It will not create a relationship that does not already exist and has not already been celebrated in all the commitments Dan and Adrian have made to each other, both large and small, in the days since they first met and recognized their connection to one another. So, in witnessing this ceremony today, we are observing only an outward sign of an inward union that already exists between them. This ceremony is a symbol of how far they have come together. It is a symbol of the promise they will make to each other today to continue to live their lives together and to love each other solely and above all others."

And as her eyes lifted briefly from her script to land right where they needed to be, finding him instantly, and finding him smiling back at her with all the tenderness and the love and the passion and the _commitment_ she already knew existed between them, the truth in the words she was speaking right now just couldn't be ignored - for the two people she was marrying or for herself.

"Marriage makes people kin. It celebrates intimacy, and it ties a life-long knot. It is the most significant contract a person will make in their lifetime," her voice caught a little on that last part, and tears filled her eyes as she looked to Dan and Adrian, who were so lost in each other it almost hurt to look at them, and then to Jax, who was watching her carefully with a soft smile playing on his lips, almost as if he could read her thoughts too. "It touches the heart more deeply than any other action people can take."

"On their journey through marriage and through life, it is love that will make each step easy. Love sweetens shared dreams and comforts the fearful. Love is accomplished in seeing the good and overlooking the bad. In hard times, love brings hope. Love is at the very center of meaningful life. It is the presence of love that, here today, pervades and enriches this service of celebration and commitment. To quote the poet Christina Rossetti: what is the beginning? Love. What the course? Love is still. What the goal? The goal is love, on a happy hill. And my dear friends," Allie choked a little on those words, wiping a tear from her eye. "You have that in front of you now, and for the rest of your lives."

Dan shifted just enough to flash her a happy, tear-filled grin, and she nodded to him through her tears.

"And now Dan and Adrian, have you come here today with the intention to be legally joined in marriage? Do you pledge to choose respect, kindness, and compassion toward one another, to listen deeply to one another, and to speak to one another truthfully, today and always?"

Dan and Adrian looked to one another, their hands clasped around each other, and they grinned, saying in unison. "We do."

"The pledge you're about to make today expresses your devotion to one another and to the love you share, and the words spoken here will support your marriage and your commitment through the inevitable hardships you'll face together. Today, in the presence of your families and friends, you pronounce your love for each other and make a commitment that will define the next phase of your journey. We celebrate it with you, we love you, we support you, and we wish you all the happiness a lifetime can bring. Dan and Adrian have chosen their own vows, and I have been asked to inform you that they've chosen these vows from the words of one of Dan's idols, the immortal pop goddess, Whitney Houston."

She paused there, letting the guests chuckle, and then she moved the microphone so it was positioned directly between Dan and Adrian for their vows.

Dan cleared his throat as he leaned into the microphone, tears already filling his eyes, "If tomorrow is Judgment Day, and I'm standing on the front line, and the Lord asks me what I did with my life, I will say I spent it with you."

And then Adrian leaned, his voice scratchy and full of emotion, "If I lose my fame and fortune, and I'm homeless on the street, and I'm sleeping in Grand Central Station, it's okay if you're sleeping with me."

Dan grinned at him through his tears, and then they continued their vows together, alternating lines. "'Cuz your love is my love and my love is your love. It would take an eternity to break us, and the chains of this world couldn't hold us."

By now, there was barely a dry eye in the seats, and Allie found herself gasping for air as she tried to hold in her tears, her chest heaving and twisting at this beautiful demonstration of their love for one another. What had she been so nervous and scared about? Dan and Adrian loved each other, and that was all that really mattered, and all she really wanted for her best friend.

"As the years they pass us by," Dan pushed through a little sob, "We stay young through each other's eyes, and no matter how old we get, it's okay as long as I got you, baby."

"If I should die this very day," Adrian went on with a happy smile, gripping Dan's hands a little bit tighter. "It's okay because on earth we weren't meant to stay, and no matter what the people say, I'll be waiting for ya after Judgment Day."

They laughed a little together, finally bringing it together one last time, "'Cuz your love is my love, and my love is your love. It would take an eternity to break us, and the chains of this world couldn't hold us."

And then, after they exchanged their rings, Allie looked to both of them proudly with happy tears in her eyes.

"Dan and Adrian, no one but you can declare yourselves married. You have begun it here today in speaking your vows before your family and friends and you will do it again in the days and years to come, standing by each other, sharing all that is sweet and bitter in life. Each tender act, each loving word will be the declaration of what was made here today. And now, it is my absolute joy and honor, by the power vested in me by the great state of California, to officially acknowledge your union as husband and husband. You may now kiss each other."

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause as Dan and Adrian leaned into one another, kissing through their joy and their tears, and Allie had to wipe away some of her own before she could clap along with the crowd as Trisha Yearwood's rousing, gospel-like version of their vows played through the speakers.

As the crowd continued to clap for the newlyweds, Dan and Adrian made their way back down the aisle together, hand in hand, ready to embark on this new part of their lives together. She watched them through yet another round of happy tears, feeling her heart squeeze in her chest at the sight of her best friend on cloud nine, on the happiest, most exciting day of his life, and she had a flash of a vision across her mind - of what that might look like, what that might feel like, if that was her and Jax walking down the aisle side by side, and hand in hand that way.

Each member of the bridal party took their turn walking back down the aisle, and Lyla held her hand out to Allie, so they could take their turns arm in arm.

"Amazing job, hun," Lyla whispered in her ear above the crowd.

"Thanks," Allie laughed. "My hands were shaking the whole time!"

As they walked past the Samcro section of the guests, they were met with loud whistles and cheers. Allie found him easily in the crowd again, and Jax beamed back at her.

As if he just _knew,_ and what he knew, and she knew, was that someday, when they were both ready, they'd have their turn in front of an altar too. They'd make their own promises, and have a chance to have their own ceremony to symbolize the commitment they'd already made to each other and would continue to make every day for the rest of their lives.

With the right person, marriage wasn't just a piece of paper.

And she knew Jax was that right person for her.

* * *

With the wind lifting her hair and the sun warming her face, Allie tightened her arms around Jax's waist, pressing her cheek into his leather-covered back. He was just turning them down a long, winding road that would take them to the club's cabin. She hadn't realized just how much she needed this time away with him, or just a break in general, until they got on his bike and hit the road.

After the whirlwind of Dan's wedding, and everything else that had come right before, this was just exactly what they both needed. Because at the cabin, they could just turn everything else off, literally and figuratively, and just enjoy each other. It didn't help, of course, that she was still reeling from the actual act of officiating, and what saying all those words out loud had meant, because she'd realized that they _had_ meant something. They'd meant just as much to her as they'd had to the couple she'd said them for.

Jax knew it too, but he'd also been smart enough to know she needed to be the one to bring it up.

When they got to the cabin, Jax pulled his bike right up to the front, and then killed the engine. He unsnapped his helmet, swung his leg over the side, and then reached out to help her off his bike. With her feet on the ground, she took in everything in front of her as Jax got to work unpacking their small overnight bags from the storage compartment at the back of his bike. The cabin was definitely pretty old, probably from the 70s, with its wood paneling, iron overhang, and simple, unfussy design. But it belonged to the club, which meant it also belonged to Jax, and she was beginning to understand that meant it also belonged to her.

They hadn't needed to bring much except for clothes and a few toiletries - Jax had had a prospect head up here the day before to make sure it was clean, including the bed they'd be sleeping in, and to bring up all the groceries they'd need for the next few days. Allie supposed that was just another one of the benefits of Jax's position, and again, she was starting to understand, more and more, just what those benefits really were and that it was really okay to enjoy them.

So, she followed Jax up the short, wooden stairs to the cabin's front door, taking one of their overnight bags from his hand so he could get the key in the door.

"Thanks, baby," he grinned at her from over his shoulder as he pushed the front door open, stepping through the threshold and gesturing with his head for her to come on inside.

The inside of the cabin was actually in far better shape than the outside, with its new and modern kitchen appliances, and a completely updated kitchen with freshly painted cabinets and a concrete countertop. There was a comfy-looking leather couch in the middle of the living space, a slightly-aged TV, and of course, no biker-owned cabin in the woods would be complete without a nice, big neon Harley Davidson sign right smack against the wall.

But it was cozy, and clean, and smelled of freshly-washed linen, and for the next few days, it was home.

Because wherever Jax was, that's where she was - that's where her home was too.

Like he could read her thoughts, and he seemed to be doing that a lot lately, he tossed their bags onto the leather couch, and pulled her into his arms before pressing his lips into her forehead.

"I'm really glad we're doing this," Jax murmured. "We needed it."

"Yes, we did," she sighed, leaning into his embrace and drinking it in as fast as she could get it. "These last few weeks...God, these last few _months_ have just been a little insane with everything going on."

"No shit, baby," he chuckled, and then he abruptly pulled away from her so he could rifle through his overnight bag until he unearthed a black, square jewelry box. He held it out to her with some excitement in his navy blue eyes, not to mention a tiny bit of nervousness too, but the size of this particular box was definitely too big to hold a certain kind of jewelry.

He must've seen her initial hesitation because he laughed a little, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously as he gestured to the box with his head. "Don't worry, darlin'. It's not that kinda jewelry box. I promise it's not what you think it is."

"I wasn't -"

" _Sure_ , you weren't," Jax smirked at her, and now that nervousness had been replaced with amusement instead. "Go on, open it. I thought I'd be able to wait a little longer to give it to you, but I've already been waitin' a few days, and I don't think I can wait much longer. I might as well admit ahead of time that I had a lot of help, but I'm sure you figured that already. Our newlywed roommate really came through for me on this one."

"Okay," Allie replied slowly, gingerly slipping the box out of his grasp as she chewed on her bottom lip. Then she lifted the lid ever so slightly until the contents came into view: a simple gold chain with an even simpler, beautiful gold _J_ initial nestled to the left.

Her lips parted, but she just couldn't find the words, and her eyes darted back up to him as they filled with some new tears. She was doing so much more of that than she was used to these last few days...crying through Dan's wedding ceremony, tearing up right now at this beautiful gift, this beautiful _symbol_ he was giving her. Jax gently slipped the box from her hands again and stepped around her so he could fasten the necklace around her neck.

The delicate gold chain hit right at the tips of her collarbone, with the simple, elegant J initial sitting just to the left, and just a few inches above her heart. Probably exactly where he wanted it to be too.

"Jax…it's beautiful," she exhaled, letting her fingers run along the chain. "I love it."

"I figured you would 'cuz I didn't pick it out," he admitted with a shrug, but that lop-sided, cocky grin slid across his face again now that he could see for himself that she really did love it, and she really wasn't just saying that.

"Oh, come on," Allie laughed. Her attention shifted back down to the new necklace encircling her neck, and her fingers lifted up to run along it again, lingering on the _J_ when her eyes flew back up to find him observing her with amusement again.

"So I'm sure you're wonderin' what I'm after here."

She smiled back at him, chewing on her bottom lip in thought. "A little bit."

"Hey," Jax reached out to tangle their hands together, bringing her knuckles up to his lips. "The last thing I wanna do is make you feel pushed into doin' somethin' you really don't wanna do, or you know, say...feel _run over_ by me."

Allie bit down on her bottom lip to hide her laugh, but it wasn't like she was going to argue with him about _that_.

"Now, I'm _not_ sayin' I don't want you to have my crow. You know how I feel about that already, but I don't know...in my mind, this is that compromise I was lookin' for. It just makes more sense, at least to me, for you to have somethin' like this instead. Like I told you before, _we_ get to decide what works and what doesn't work for us. And I think me tryin' to talk you into a crow tattoo you really don't want isn't gonna work for us. This checks all the right boxes for me: it's somethin' you like, that you'll actually wear everyday, and - now don't get all pissy, baby - but it _does_ let everybody know exactly who you belong to. I don't need you to get a tattoo for that. This is enough for me, if it makes you happy too."

It took a few moments for all that to really simmer and sink in, but it made sense to her too. And she supposed she could live with the fact that he saw this necklace as a symbol of _ownership_ because it wasn't like he was asking her to brand his name permanently on her body. He was just asking her to wear a necklace with his initial - a really beautiful necklace that also happened to be exactly her style.

"I think that's a pretty fair compromise," Allie agreed with a smile.

"I think so too," he grinned, gently flipping her wrist over so he could run his index finger along the soft skin he found there. "Someday, _if you want_ \- and I can't stress that enough, Allie - but if you want, I think my initials right there," Jax traced the space right underneath her palm, "would be just fine. I wouldn't need you to do anything crazy, like Gemma's got. Just my two initials would be enough - but only if you want. And hey, there'd be plenty of room for you to add to it too."

" _Add_ to it?" she frowned at him.

"Yeah," Jax laughed, gesturing to that space with his index finger. "You know, when we start workin' on that family, and you've got more initials to add underneath mine, but only if you want, baby."

Allie's eyebrows flew into her forehead, even as he just laughed again, moving his hand up to her face so he could run his thumb across her cheek, and then her lips. That wasn't a _terrible_ idea. In fact, it was one she could see herself eventually getting behind, at least the part about tattooing their future children's initials on her wrist. Just that thought alone warmed her and squeezed her tight. That future was right there, just waiting for them to reach out and grab it when they were ready.

The key idea there, of course, was _when they were ready_. They weren't quite there yet, but they would be.

They would be.

"So," she cocked her head to the side playfully. "Just to clarify, no tattoo? You're _really_ okay with that?"

He matched her move for move, tilting his head to the side too as he folded his arms across his chest. "Did I say no tattoo at all? I don't remember that. And before you lose your shit on me, _I'm_ the one who's thinkin' about gettin' some new ink."

With that, he pushed up the flannel sleeve on his left arm and gestured to the bare skin on his forearm. "I'm thinkin' your name - your _full_ name - would look real nice right there. That way, I got you with me all the time, and that way, everybody knows who _I_ belong to. See, baby? Compromise. That's what this is."

" _Really_? You want to get my name tattooed on your body."

Jax's eyes narrowed a little playfully as he pushed his sleeve back down. "Uh huh. That's right. And, I was thinkin' when we start workin' on that family, I'd put another name right here," he put his hand over his heart with a soft smile. "I think that's the right place for that name."

Her heart squeezed tight in her chest, and she found herself grinning up at him. Of course he'd want to do that. Of course he'd want to put the names of the people he loved more than anything on his body forever, and for everyone to see.

"Well, I can't argue with that."

And, really, she couldn't argue with the rest of it either. She'd learned a long time ago that there wasn't much use trying to talk him out of something he'd set his mind to, whether it was good or bad, just like he'd clearly learned when he could push her, and when he couldn't.

"I'm kinda surprised you didn't just go ahead and get that ink already," Allie threw out lightly.

"Aw, come on," Jax shrugged with a smirk. "You really think I wouldn't run that by you first? I like to think I know you well enough by now to know I needed to make absolutely sure you weren't gonna be...I don't know, _horrified_ that I'd branded myself with your name without talkin' to you first."

"That's pretty smart of you, actually," she laughed, leaning in to give him a quick kiss. Seeing as how they were all about keeping the lines of communication open between them, she figured he'd really enjoy what she was about to say next. "I need to tell you something, Jax."

His eyebrows lifted in anticipation, and she had to grin at the way a tiny bit of nervousness crept into his eyes again.

"So I had quite the experience during my officiating duties," Allie started easily, laughing right in his face when his lips spread apart in a cocky smirk. "I'm sure you figured that out already."

"I did."

"But what I _haven't_ told you, and honestly, Jax, I haven't told you until now because there just wasn't a good time, and I didn't want to make you feel guilty about things we just can't control right now, but that day I bailed Wendy out of lock-up...that affected me more than I'd anticipated, and more than I told you."

The cocky grin on his face slipped a little, and he reached out to tangle their fingers together again, like some part of him just needed to be touching some part of her right now.

"I saw her name on all the paperwork I had to fill out for her - Wendy Case- _Teller_ \- and I just felt like the walls were closing in on me or something. And I think my heart just about fell right out of my chest when I saw that too. That surprised the hell out of me, as I'm sure you can imagine, because I did _not_ expect to feel that way. Just the knowledge that you're still technically and legally tied to another woman was bad enough before, but having to see it there, in plain black and white...it just about killed me, Jax. I hated it. I hated knowing that some other woman was tied to you that way, and I wasn't."

Jax pushed out a heavy sigh, bringing her knuckles back up to his lips. "And then she treated you the way she treated you, and just made all that even worse for you."

"And I knew you'd feel that way, and that's why I didn't say anything until now. But I want you to know, Jax, because I don't want to keep the way I'm feeling from you for any reason. I think somewhere along the way between all that, and then officiating at Dan's wedding, I think I realized that maybe my opinion on all this has shifted a little bit."

Now, he tilted his head to the side playfully. "What do you mean, _all this_?"

"Come on, Jax," she laughed. "Don't make me say it."

"Nah, I think you should."

Allie rolled her eyes up to the ceiling, but there was just no getting out of it anyway. He'd never let this go until she gave him what he wanted. "The whole _marriage_ thing."

"Uh huh," he grinned, folding his arms across his chest again. "And how has your opinion shifted?"

"Maybe I think it _is_ still a contract," Allie allowed with a begrudging sigh. "But the ceremony, the marriage, it's a symbol for that life-long commitment you make to another person. It's not just a piece of paper, not if you're doing it with the right person...I see that now. I still don't think it creates the commitment, that part is up to us, but I _do_ see how it can strengthen that commitment, and make it more meaningful, more precious."

"Ah," Jax nodded to her, rolling his bottom lip down between his teeth to hide his victorious grin. "I see."

"I'm not saying not _ever_ , Jax," she smiled softly. "Just not right _now_. And probably not for a while too. I think we can both agree that anytime soon is probably too soon."

"I think that's fair. And I think we'll both have a pretty good feeling when the time _is_ the right time."

Allie reached out until both hands rested on his forearms and she stood up on her tiptoes to press a light kiss into his lips. "I think so too."

Then, in a flash, he dipped down so he could scoop her up underneath her thighs and dumped her right on top of the couch, falling on top of her and sliding easily between her legs as his lips muffled her laughter.

* * *

So, their time at the cabin was going well, until it wasn't.

Jax stirred in his sleep, pushing his head back against his pillow, and tugged Allie closer into his bare chest. She nuzzled her cheek into his skin, and he smiled in his sleep at the feel of her lips on his chest. They'd had two really _good_ days here. Days that had been spent lazily in bed, with even lazier lovemaking, with a few quicker, and rougher turns on the couch, up against the counter in the kitchen, and in the shower, but Jax had given up keeping track a long time ago.

If anything, this just felt like a taste of what was to come when they really had their house all to themselves. God, he couldn't fucking wait. He _would_ wait, just like he'd had, and would continue to do, with everything else where Allie was concerned, and the wait just made it all the more sweeter when he finally got what he wanted.

But even just being able to use the bathroom or shower with the door open...that was a luxury he'd completely forgotten about, not to mention taken for granted when he'd had it.

And they'd still had plenty of fun other ways too. While Jax's attempt at teaching Allie how to fish hadn't gone exactly the way he'd planned - she'd gotten bored pretty quickly and had _hated_ the sight of that _poor fish_ on a hook - they'd still spent plenty of time wrapped around each other in front of the fire pit out front, talking and laughing and kissing. They'd even cooked a little bit together since they'd been up here too.

It was just this time alone with her that he'd been craving. Having her completely all to himself, with no distractions from the studio or the club or anything else that was going on in their lives right now that they just weren't ready to tackle quite yet. And she seemed to be relishing this time they'd spent unplugged too, basking in the sunlight and the fresh air and the calmness that surrounded them.

And it was fun while it lasted.

Because the sound of tires screeching and rumbling down the long, winding path toward the cabin jerked Jax awake. Immediately on high alert, he leapt out of bed, jostling Allie awake in the process too, and reached under the bed for the Glock he'd put there when she wasn't looking. Allie's eyes widened the size of baseballs when she saw him snap back up with the Glock in his hand, and she froze, clutching the blanket around her like it was a safety net that it definitely wasn't.

"Get down," Jax whispered to her as he crept over to the window, and then waved an arm at her. "Behind the bed, Allie, and keep your head down."

She didn't hesitate, gathering the blanket around her to cover up her body, and crouched down on the other side of the bed. Jax watched her long enough to make sure she had plenty of cover in case this went from bad to worse, and he groped for his prepay to get someone from the club on the phone as soon as he could.

One quick glance at his screen had his shoulders sagging with relief.

There were three missed calls from Juice. Two missed calls from Opie. And three text messages telling him they'd hit a problem with the run they were currently on and were headed to the cabin for a place to deal with that problem because it couldn't wait until they got back to Charming. That problem certainly involved blood and bullets, but none of those text messages needed to tell him that.

And that also meant his relaxing mini-vacation with Allie had just come to an abrupt end.

"It's just the club," Jax told her from over his shoulder. "Should be Ope, Juice, Tig, and Chibs out there."

"What's going on?"

Jax set the Glock back in its hiding spot, and reached for a pair of sweatpants before responding, "They had a problem with this last run. I guess that's what I get for turning my phone on silent for the night, huh?"

He huffed out a laugh, but Allie clearly didn't see the humor in this situation. With her forehead creasing into a deep, disturbed line, she threw some leggings and a tank-top on and ran a hand through her sleep-mussed hair. But there wasn't time to do much else, or even really talk about what was happening right now, because two bikes and a van skidded to a stop right in front of the cabin.

Within seconds, their peace and quiet erupted into panicked shouts and heavy footsteps spiking against the gravel underneath their feet, and Jax jumped into action with Allie right on his heels. He threw the front door open just in time for Juice and Tig to burst through with Chibs' arms slung around their shoulders as they carried him deeper inside.

"Shit," Jax muttered his breath when he got a good look at the crimson stains coloring Chibs' side.

Opie sprinted through the front door now with a bag slung over his shoulders, and he nodded to Jax as he made his way over to the makeshift triage area that Tig and Juice had set up in the kitchen. Jax left Allie standing near the living room, heading right for the hallway closet, where the club had some first aid supplies stored just for this reason, and he walked past her again to head for the kitchen and pass the bag to Juice, who had a grim expression written on his face.

"What the fuck happened here, bro?"

Juice just shook his head, glancing at Opie, who'd stepped in now to explain, so he could get to work on Chibs - considering Chibs was the club's only _real_ trained medic, this wasn't gonna be pretty.

"I think it was the Nords," Opie explained quietly, pulling Jax aside from the drama in the kitchen. "They tried to grab the shipment away from us right before the drop-off. We got it there - don't worry about that, Jax. But it wasn't without some gunfire, that was for damn sure."

"Shit," Jax muttered under his breath again, racking a hand through his hair anxiously. "You think Darby's really out there somewhere, pullin' the strings like this?"

Opie just shrugged, but his eyes were still on Chibs, who was currently propped up on the kitchen counter and shouting out instructions to Juice, who frantically tried to keep up as Tig stood to the side as his hapless assistant.

He glanced over his shoulder and found Allie still rooted to the floor near the hallway, her wide and pained eyes following Juice's every movement in that kitchen.

"Oww, dammit, ya sonuvabitch!" Chibs barked out in pain. "I said to the left, ya feckin' eejit! If ya had feckin' brains in yer head, ye'd be damn dangerous, ya know that?"

Juice winced at the barrage of insults, but he kept on working, trying his best to dig the bullet out of Chibs' side with as minimal extra damage as possible. After a few more moments, and a few more colorfully-phrased instructions from Chibs, the bullet appeared in between Juice's fingers and he immediately dropped it onto the counter like it was a hot potato. Tig took his turn now, sewing up the wound as best as he could as Chibs took some generous swigs from the bottle of whiskey Opie had handed to him.

Somewhere in between the smattering of blood on the floor and on the kitchen counter, and the grunts of pain coming from the kitchen, Jax was acutely aware that the prepay in his hand was vibrating.

He glanced down at the caller ID with a frown, and then everything came to a screeching halt. His blood ran cold, and the best he could do was grab his VP's arm and point down at the screen. This was what he'd been waiting for. So, of course, it would come now, at the worst possible time, and when he was completely unprepared.

Almost as if the motherfucker knew it too.

"I gotta take this," he murmured to his club brothers in the kitchen. "It's…" he trailed off, his gaze flying to the hallway, where Allie was slowly but surely moving closer to the club crisis in the kitchen, her worried dark eyes following his every movement.

That was enough for Juice and Tig, and even Chibs, to quickly become aware that they were about to deal with yet another club crisis right here in this cabin, and all movements inside the kitchen stilled and quieted as Jax headed for the front door with Opie right on his heels. He glanced over his shoulder at Allie only once, but he just had to get outside now. There was no way he was taking this phone call anywhere within earshot of her.

As soon as they were far enough away from the front door with gravel underneath their feet, Jax skidded to a stop. He didn't even care that he wasn't wearing shoes on a gravel road. All his attention was focused right on the prepay in his hand, and all his adrenaline seemed to rush to his head all at once.

"You want me to take this one?" Opie murmured quietly next to him. "I can -"

"Nah, Ope. I got this."

He _had_ to. He couldn't push this off on anyone else, even if it was his VP. This was _his_ responsibility. _His_ old lady.

So, he blew out a heavy sigh to mentally prepare himself, and then flipped the phone open to answer the call.

"'Sup, bro?"

Just those two words, having to push them out and put on this act - to have to act just like he did before he knew who this motherfucker really was - it made him sick to his stomach. He wanted to hop on his bike right now, chase him down, and rip him apart limb by limb. But before he could do any of those things, Jax needed to get him back to the clubhouse first. And _then_ he could handle the problem the only way he knew how.

He could wait.

"Hey, bro," Harrison's cool, steady voice sounded from the other end of the phone. "Sorry it's been a little while since we've been in contact, but I've been working on that lead for you."

"No worries. I get it," Jax told him. Right about now, it was all he could do not to take the phone and smash it in his hands. "You got somethin' for us?"

"I think I finally got your guy's location nailed down. I just need to do a little more surveillance to make sure I've got enough intel to confirm it, but I think we got him."

Yeah.

They had him alright.

"That's great news, bro," Jax pushed a smile on his face to force a congenial, easy tone to his voice. The last thing he needed to do right now was tip Harrison off that anything was wrong, or that anything other than a payday was waiting for him during his next visit to the clubhouse. "When you think you can get us that intel? We've got some club shit we're dealin' with right now, but we should be ready for whatever you've got for us in a few days."

And, those extra few days would buy him a little more time to really sift through the sentence he planned on carrying out, and make up his mind once and for all on how he wanted to see it all play out.

"That works for me," Harrison offered nonchalantly. "Gives me plenty of time. How does Wednesday sound?"

Something dark and dangerous coiled around him, and a menacing smile slipped around Jax's lips. "Yeah, bro. Wednesday sounds great. I'll see ya then, but lemme know if anything comes before then, a'ight?"

"No problem, bro. See ya then."

 _Yeah,_ Jax thought darkly. _See ya._

He snapped his prepay shut so hard he nearly cracked the screen, and then squeezed his palm around it so tight he was a little surprised he didn't draw blood. He was just going to have to wait for that too. The wait would help him savor it. Relish it. Take his time with it.

Yeah. He could wait until Wednesday.

Jax nodded tightly to his VP, who'd been watching the entire exchange with a grim line pressed across his face. There was no reason to hash it all out now, especially when Opie had already heard the most important parts of the conversation anyway. But when they pushed through the cabin's front door again, it was clear it wasn't going to be that easy. Because none of his club brothers were standing there, waiting expectantly with a disturbed expression on their faces.

It was Allie.

She stood right in the middle of the living room, with her hands folded tightly across her chest, and her dark eyes focused sharply on him.

Jax glanced into the kitchen, and found Tig and Juice, and even Chibs, despite his injury, watching her with some anxiety and trepidation creeping across their faces. He squeezed his eyes shut, and scrubbed a hand over his face before finally daring another glance at his old lady again. Her dark eyes still focused on him, zeroing in now like she could read every thought that had just run through his head, and all the thoughts before it too.

"Hey, Allie, can you give us a -"

She just shook her head tersely. "No."

Jax pushed out a heavy sigh, hitching both hands on his hips as his eyes flicked to the floor. He really, really didn't want to do this with her right now, in front of anyone in the club, and right here, when this was _supposed_ to be a relaxing, drama-free vacation for them. But that train had obviously left the building the second those bikes and that van skidded to a stop in front of the cabin.

Their vacation was officially over anyway. Might as well stick a fork in it.

Still, he could try one more time, even if he knew her well enough to know it wouldn't work.

"Allie," Jax sighed, finally glancing up at her again. "Can you just go wait in our room for a few minutes so I can bring them up to speed and then I'll tell you -"

"No, Jax."

His eyes shifted to the kitchen again, and found all four of his club brothers staring back at them with eyebrows raised. He couldn't quite suss out where the heart of their reactions really lied - in Allie's blatant refusal to listen to him, which honestly, shouldn't have been that big of a surprise, at least not to Opie, or, the blatant reality that he hadn't gotten around to having this conversation with her sooner.

Juice, in particular, was shaking his head at Jax as if to say, _Really, bro?_

And then Allie ventured closer, taking a slow, purposeful step in closer so that she was situated directly in the middle of them all.

"I understand this is club business," Allie told him quietly, but firmly, her eyes never once leaving his. "And that if I wasn't involved, and if it had no legal implications, I'd have to leave the room so you could talk. But I _am_ involved, Jax. This isn't just about you, and about the way that _you_ feel, and about what _you_ want to do. If I remember right, _I_ was the one who was held face down on that bed, not you."

He winced at the blunt impact of her words, and he swallowed hard, pushing back the new heartache rushing through him that even now, even here, this was _still_ trailing behind her like a ghost, haunting her and ruining things for her at every turn.

"What are you planning to do to him, Jax?"

And because he couldn't bring himself to look her in the eye right now, he shifted his gaze down and away, daring a glance into the kitchen. Opie was shaking his head at him now, like he just couldn't believe they were all really standing here, sorting this out in the fucking cabin of all places. He couldn't really believe it himself.

He'd been avoiding this. He knew that. She knew that. Everyone else in the cabin knew it now too. And he'd been avoiding it because he hadn't wanted to see the look in her eyes when he told her.

That look was in her eyes right now. Disbelief. Disappointment. Anger. Resentment. Any one of those things directed at him - from _her_ \- would've been enough to send him reeling, probably headed right for a toilet, or a sink, too - but _all_ of those things, all at once...he had to tear his eyes away again because it was just more than he could handle right now. Especially with a fucking audience.

But maybe this was what she wanted anyway. Now, with an audience, especially _this_ audience, he couldn't skirt around the issue because they knew the truth. The whole truth, and not just the vague details he'd mentally prepared himself to give her when it finally came up. Now, he had to give her that whole truth too.

Allie deserved that.

So, with that new resolve, Jax lifted his eyes, and murmured, "I'm gonna kill him."

Allie shifted her weight from side to side, like she'd expected it, but still hadn't been prepared for the impact of it. But that determination and that fire he saw her in her eyes - that same determination and fire that he fucking loved so much - that was directed right at him, and not in a good way.

She nodded tightly as she sucked in a deep breath, her shoulders heaving up and down a little more rapidly than before.

"I understand why you'd want to do that, Jax," Allie told him calmly and coolly, with the kind of poise she used in business meetings and negotiations. "I really do. There have been plenty of times when I wished he was dead too - plenty of times I wished I'd actually called Ope when I was still at that school and told him what happened because I knew what would happen to him if I did. But I didn't. You wanna know why?"

Jax didn't respond, choosing instead to just keep his focus on her, even as his bare chest heaved and his throat started to close tight.

"Because _wanting_ to kill him and _actually_ killing him are two very different things. The last thing I want is for you to do something like this, and thinking you're doing it for _me_ , when...Jax, if something went wrong, if anyone figured out it was you - you could get taken away from me for the rest of our lives, and that's not a risk I'm willing to take."

He swallowed hard, and ran a hand over his face, and then his mouth, before really allowing himself to look at her. And what he found nearly made his heart shatter to the floor. That determination and that fire was still there, but desperation had joined in now, and pain, and heartache, and devastation too.

"I know you feel like you need to do... _something_ to him for what he did to me, and what he did to the club. I understand that, Jax. I really do. And I'm not saying he _doesn't_ deserve it - whatever else you have planned, whatever else you want to do to him...I think he _does_ deserve that. But just - please, _don't_ take someone's life for me. Don't go that far and put yourself at risk like that. I know you think the risk is worth it, and I understand that your rules and the club's rules are different than everyone else's, but...I don't want to be the reason you do something that could get you taken away from me. I realize that it could still happen...I mean, look what just happened this morning."

She paused there, gesturing toward the kitchen, where Chibs was still propped up on top of the counter with his hand gingerly covering his bandaged and bloodied side. Chibs shot her a pained smile and nodded to her tightly in response.

"I know it's probably always going to be this way, isn't it?" Allie tilted her head to the side a little, her eyes shining with fresh tears. "Don't try to tell me otherwise because we both know it's not true. Even when the club is out of guns for good, there's always going to be some danger attached to this, isn't there?"

And because all he could give her was the truth, he nodded.

"That's what I thought," Allie sighed, her shoulders sagging a little. "And I understand that if you ever really do find the man who killed Clay...I understand what you'll need to do, and I also understand that it's not my place to try to talk you out of that because it has nothing to do with me. I don't like it, and I wouldn't want you to do it, but I also understand why you'd need to get justice for Clay because that's what _he_ would want you to do. That's what _Gemma_ wants you to do. That would be between you and the club, and between you and Gemma, and it wouldn't be my place to try to get in the middle of that."

Allie moved closer now so that she could rest her hand on his forearm, the same one he planned to ink her name across, and he knew what she was going to say before the words left her lips.

"This really isn't all that different, Jax. This is between you and the club, but it's between me and you too. I know you want to make this right for me. I know you want to get the justice you think I deserve. And I love you for that. But you can _still_ do that for me without killing him. I couldn't care less about his life. I care about _your_ life, and the life we want to have together. And I don't want you to go that far and put your life, and our life, at risk. I hope you respect me enough and that you _love_ me enough to honor that."

His knees almost gave out on him at that last part. And now, there was only one option for him anyway. How could he refuse her? How could he do anything other than what she needed him to do? And in the end, she was right. It had happened to _her_ , not him. No matter how much his heart bled and burned and ached for her, it had still happened to her, not him.

It was her right to decide what punishment fit the crime, even if he didn't agree. And he respected her enough and he _loved_ her enough to honor that. It was probably going to be the hardest thing he'd ever have to do, holding himself back from what he really wanted to unleash, but he'd hold himself back for her. Always for her.

He reached out to tuck some stray dark hair behind her ear, and let his thumb slip down her cheek. As his lips curled up into a soft smile, he nodded silently to her. Allie's shoulders dropped in relief, and she leaned into him, letting him wrap his arms around her to pull her against his bare chest.

His eyes found his VP from over the top of Allie's head, and Opie nodded to him in silent agreement.

Allie had said her peace. Maybe it was a good thing that she'd done it in front of nearly half the club anyway because now they understood too. The club had really voted to allow Jax to carry out the punishment that he saw fit, even if that punishment also included death, but that didn't mean it _had_ to end with taking Harrison's life.

He wanted to though. There was nothing he wanted more right now than to wrap his hands around Harrison's neck and watch his life slip away as he struggled for air and as his face turned red and blotchy. That's how he probably would've done it - Jax had been mulling over all the different options in front of him, and that was the one he'd kept going back to.

There was something intimate about it that he'd liked. The act of wrapping his hands around Harrison's neck and squeezing the life from it, of being able to bring his face close and really take it in and watch his life drain away.

But, at least this way, he could really do some lasting damage now. Something Harrison would have to live with for the rest of his miserable fucking life.

Yeah. Maybe that was the way.

Jax glanced down at the woman in his arms, _his_ woman, _his_ old lady, and he brushed his lips across her forehead.

"I love you," he murmured to her.

"I love you too," she whispered, her dark eyes shining again with fresh tears. "You _did_ promise me you would do everything you could to keep yourself out of prison."

"That's right," he nodded, reaching out to run a thumb across her cheek. "I did. Now, I won't lie, baby. I don't agree with you. I don't think he deserves to live after what he did to you, and the club agreed with me on that. And anything else I'm gonna do to him could _still_ get my ass sent to prison, just not for as long. But all that being said, Allie, you're right. If this is what you want, if this is your decision, then I _will_ honor it. I promise you that."

Then, in front of his club brothers, Allie stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him.

It was just as much of a statement as anything else she could've said out loud. She'd made herself clear in front of them. All of them. She was his, and he was hers. His eyes dropped to the gold necklace around her neck, lingering on his initial, which rested just a few inches away from her heart.

Allie deserved the justice she'd been denied years ago. So many people had failed her - the school, the cops, her friends.

He wasn't going to be one of those people.

So, he'd just have to get more creative, and that was a challenge he was prepared to meet head-on. Besides, there were just a few more days until Wednesday anyway.

He could wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - So, with two chapters left, the next one is the one we've all been waiting for - spoiler alert, Harrison is going to show up at the clubhouse and get what's coming to him ;)
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter! There was a lot going on with Dan's wedding and Jax giving Allie their version of his crow (I'm not crying, you're crying!), and finally, Jax and Allie finally having that hard conversation about how he planned to handle Harrison. Thank you for reading and sticking with me!


	35. Chapter Thirty-Five

Jax let some smoke billow out from his nostrils, kicking his legs out in front of him. He'd been waiting at this picnic table for a few minutes now, but he expected Harrison to be right on time. He'd never been late with a call or with just about anything he'd promised so far, and Jax didn't anticipate he'd start now.

He'd started his morning just like any other: waking up in bed with his old lady wrapped around him, breakfast and coffee with their roommates - who were also engrossed in apartment hunting at the kitchen table - and then after kissing Allie goodbye, he hopped on his bike and headed to the clubhouse.

Everything was ready. All the arrangements had been made. The club had been brought up to speed on his plans and everyone was in agreement on what was about to happen, as well as any clean up that might be required after.

Now, all he needed was for that motherfucker to dare to step back onto his property.

Because as soon as that happened, nothing about Tyler Harrison's life was ever going to be the same again. Which, considering what he'd done, was only fair.

After careful consideration, and taking into account what Allie wanted and what she definitely _didn't_ want, he felt like he'd finally settled on the right course of action. One that would inflict the most amount of pain and anguish and a lifetime of terror without actually going as far as taking the man's sorry excuse for a life.

Not that Harrison deserved mercy, but Jax also wanted to respect Allie's wishes. He _loved_ her enough to honor that, so that's what he was going to do. And in retrospect, what he had planned was a fate worse than death.

The punishment would fit the crime, that was for damn sure.

With anticipation and pent-up adrenaline coursing through him, he took another long pull of the stupid contraption in his hand. Nicotine was nicotine, and it was enough to see him through these last few minutes of waiting.

But that was fine.

He'd learned through trial and error that good things would come to those who waited, and today, he'd reap the benefits of waiting in spades.

So when that familiar black Trans Am finally pulled into T-M's lot, Jax tucked his e-cigarette into his cut with smooth and precise movements. He pushed off the picnic table just as Harrison slid out of his car and headed straight for him, calm and cool as ever.

"Hey, bro," Jax greeted him with a grin as he held out his hand.

This little act wasn't as hard as he'd thought it was going to be - of course, he also knew exactly what was waiting for Harrison inside the clubhouse, so there was _that_. It was kinda fun, too, _because_ he knew exactly what Harrison was walking into, and that just made the anticipation that much sweeter.

Harrison shook his hand with that same firm handshake and that same slimy, self-satisfied grin he remembered. "Hey, Jax. Good to see you again."

"You too," Jax flashed him a grin as they made their way to the clubhouse's double doors, and then he opened one of those doors for Harrison, waving his hand in front of the empty space with a flourish. "After you, bro."

Harrison stepped through the threshold, apparently none the wiser that he was about to be ambushed, but Jax trailed behind him anyway, just to make sure he didn't try to make a run for it once the ruse was up. It didn't take long for Harrison's steps to slow just a touch, as if he was _finally_ starting to realize something wasn't quite right inside the clubhouse - probably right around the time he got a good look at what was waiting for him on the main floor.

The whole club flanked around one little table at the center of the room. Two empty chairs sat at that table, just waiting to be sat in.

When Harrison's movements came to a standstill, Jax was right there at his back, gently prodding him forward with the barrel of his Glock.

"Let's keep on walkin', huh?" Jax murmured in his ear. "We gotta have a little chat."

Harrison's hands shot up in the air, like that would do him any good, but at least he was smart enough to keep walking forward until he got to that table. Jax waited long enough for Juice and Happy to pat Harrison down, and then he stepped around the table so he could take his seat.

"What the fuck is this, Jax?" Harrison pushed out, his voice unsurprisingly filled with as much confusion as anger, but Jax just ignored him, dropping down into the chair at the other end of the table.

He gestured to Harrison with his hand, Glock and all, signalling to Happy that it was time to push that fucker down so he could face the music. Then, as Happy shoved him into the empty chair in front of him, Jax rested his Glock casually on top of the table with his index finger draped over the trigger. Of course, he had no intention of actually using his gun today. He just liked the idea of keeping it right where Harrison could see it.

Now, the piece of shit finally seemed to realize his time was up, but when he tried to jerk to his feet, Happy and Juice were right there behind him, holding him down by the shoulders and keeping him right where they wanted him.

"What the fuck is this?" Harrison spat.

Jax gave himself a moment to rein it in. This motherfucker really thought he could sit here, in _his_ clubhouse, when it had to be clear the club had at least caught him in the act of ripping them off, and _still_ had the balls to talk to him like this?

Well, once an entitled, pompous frat boy, always an entitled, pompous frat boy.

So, he tilted his head to the side, finally letting a smirk slip across this face. Yeah, this was gonna be fun.

"I don't know what you're talkin' about, _bro_ ," Jax flicked his eyebrows into his forehead as he spoke before glancing down at the Glock in his hand. "I thought we were just gonna talk some business. You got an update for us or what?"

Panic flickered across Harrison's face, but he schooled his expression just as quickly, smoothing his features out to the calm and collected expression Jax was used to seeing. Now, though, he also saw right through the act.

"Alright, fine," Harrison bit out, and then, as he reached into the front of his jacket, he glanced up at the club members huddled around him. "I'm just grabbing the intel I brought with me, alright? That's it."

Jax tipped his chin, signaling to him to just do it. Happy and Juice had already patted him down, so the sooner they could move this part along, the better. True to form, Harrison set some paperwork on the table, which, at first glance, looked just like the rest of the intel he'd been bringing to them these last few months.

"So what is all this then?"

Harrison glanced down at the intel, slicing a hand down to it as he started to explain, "I tracked your guy from two different safe houses since the last time we spoke -"

" _Two_ safe houses, huh?" Jax cut in with a smirk, but he kept his hand on his Glock just because he could. "We talked, what? Two days ago? So he's been moved around _twice_ since then, huh?"

Harrison blinked back at him. This was the first time anyone in the club had ever questioned his information outright, and to his face, since he'd started working for them, but he recovered after a beat.

"Right," he nodded to Jax, a tight line ticking down his jaw. "Like I said, I was tracking their movements and they've got him in another safe house in Lodi right now as we speak."

"And by _them_ , you mean the cartel, right?"

He swallowed hard, blinking a few times before he spoke again. "I don't know that it's the cartel or if it's just people working for the cartel, but it's definitely funded by them."

"A'ight," Jax flashed him another grin. "So how do you know?"

"How do I know what?"

"That the safe house is funded by the cartel," Jax lifted his Glock off the table now, but only so he could gesture with it right toward the man sitting across from him. Watching him sweat and squirm like this was more satisfying than he'd anticipated, which only boded well for the rest of his plans.

Harrison's eyes widened just a touch, and he swallowed hard again. "There's nobody else it could be. I mean, we've been over all this already, bro - I went to fucking _Mexico_ and saw him in a bunker owned and operated by the cartel."

"Alright, alright," Jax just shrugged with a light laugh. "If you say so. And now he's in Lodi, huh? Well, shit, that's not too far from here, so we must be really close to pinning him down once and for all."

"I'd say so, yeah."

"A'ight," Jax leaned an elbow on the table now, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly. "Say we take a drive over there right now. You think he's still in that safe house?"

For the second time since they'd sat down, Harrison's eyes widened. And that was the tell Jax was looking for.

He tilted his head to the side again, regarding the piece of shit across from him with a slow smirk. "That's what I thought. See, it's come to our attention that the information you've been feedin' us, not to mention takin' our money for, may or may not be the real, honest-to-God truth."

Now, Harrison's eyes darkened dangerously, glazing over the way a shark's eyes might right before it struck. "And what makes you say that?"

The smirk on Jax's face spread as he waited for Harrison to just keep digging his own hole. Sooner or later, he'd break and give Jax the opening he was looking for. If he waited long enough -

"Does this have anything to do with who you've recently hired as your legal representation?"

Ah. There it was. And he didn't even have to wait that long for it.

Jax wagged a ringed finger at him playfully. "Now how would you know somethin' like that? Who we've got handling our legal work is no business of yours - unless it _is_?"

"Look," Harrison huffed out a laugh and shook his head. "I don't know what she told you, but none of it is true, okay? She's a fucking liar - always has been, always will be. And if you want her dealin' with your legal work, that's your prerogative, but whatever Allie's told you about me and her is a fucking _lie_ , bro. I'm tellin' ya - she pulled this same shit in college and she's fucking doing it again."

He gave himself another moment there because he felt himself sliding right up to the edge of his control. He'd had a pretty good handle on it up until now, and now wasn't the time to lose his cool. Finally, Jax cocked his head to the side, lifting both hands off the table so he could wave his Glock at the man across the table.

"You know, I was hoping you'd say somethin' like that. I really was," Jax threw out as he set his Glock in his lap to free up his hands, and then made quick work of rolling up the flannel sleeve on his left arm, his lips lifting as his brand new tattoo came into view.

The skin around it was still a little red, but the elegant, Old English letters started right at the top of his forearm and ended at the base of his wrist, spelling out the name, _Alexandra._

Jax rested his left forearm on the table just to make sure Harrison had a good view of that tattoo, and then he set his Glock back on the table too, just because it was entertaining to see his reaction. He waited long enough to see recognition and a little bit of fear flicker across Harrison's stupid fucking face, and then he dove right in.

"Let's be clear about one thing here," Jax flashed him another grin just so he could bare his teeth. "You take her name out of your fucking mouth. I'm not gonna tell you again, and you're not gonna like what happens if you don't listen. So we clear, _bro_?"

Harrison exhaled heavily, almost _angrily_ too, but his head dipped down in a nod.

"Now," Jax grinned. "We've squared away some club business here, so I think we should turn to another matter that's a little more personal," he paused there, waiting until he saw Harrison's eyes widen again. "How long have you been keeping tabs on my old lady?"

His mouth opened and closed. He blinked rapidly. His chest heaved. But none of that was gonna help him either.

"Don't play dumb with me," Jax pushed out through a tight grin. "You know who she is to me - sure, she wasn't my old lady when you first started workin' for us, but I got a feeling you figured out when our relationship shifted before my club did."

"I haven't -"

Jax's lips curled back into a snarl. "She saw you last week. That was no coincidence. The only way you would've known where she was, right at that exact moment, was if you at least had an idea where she was and knew what kind of car she drove. So, I'll ask you again - how long have you been keeping tabs on my old lady?"

Harrison stared at him for a moment, his chest still heaving, before he finally replied: "Since college."

"A'ight," Jax nodded with a smirk. "That's what I figured. Why you been keepin' tabs on her?"

Of course, he already knew the answer to that question. He just wanted to hear the fucker say the words out loud. And Harrison didn't disappoint.

"Why have I been keepin' tabs on her?" he bit out hotly. "Because I _can_. That's why."

"Ah. Makes perfect sense."

Harrison huffed out another laugh, despite the way Happy's hand pressed him deeper into the chair. "She _ruined_ my life. I had _plans_ , ya know? I had a life all planned out - I had a scholarship, an internship, a prime spot on a college football team, and then she had to go and blow it all up just because she didn't get her way. Just because she wanted some fucking attention. I mean, why do you think I have to take jobs like this? This is the best kinda work I can fucking get because she _ruined_ my life."

Jax cocked his head to the side again with a smirk playing on his lips. "Aw, bro. That must've been really hard for you, huh?"

His eyes narrowed into dark slits, but that didn't deter Jax from goading him on.

"I mean," Jax smirked, lifting the Glock off the table just for good measure. "What's a guy gotta do not to get _me too'd_ around here, huh? She was askin' for it, right? Drunk off her ass - sure as shit wasn't sayin' no, so why _not_ shove your dick in her mouth without her permission and then hold her face down on a bed so you could rape her, and _then_ , after she passed out, _keep_ raping her? I don't know 'bout you, but I feel like, if she's too drunk to walk, talk, or just know what's goin' on around her in general…that's a no, bro. A really hard, obvious _no_. I mean, that's the kinda shit _rapists_ pull, right? "

Harrison didn't hesitate. "Look, she's _lying_ to you, alright? That's the same story she spun in college and I'm not surprised she spun it for you too. Of fucking _course_ she did - but she's lying to you, Jax. It wasn't true in college, and it's not true now."

Jax's head tipped back as his shoulders shook with laughter. The rest of the club joined him in solidarity, chuckling right along with the ruse. And when the laughter faded, so did his patience.

"You think you can really come into my clubhouse and say that shit to me?" Jax snarled. "About my _old lady_? You got a death wish or somethin'?"

That seemed to knock some sense into him because Harrison's dark eyes flashed with terror and his head shook from side to side like a bobble-head.

" _What_?" Harrison practically shrieked, his voice shrill and panicked. "No, I -"

Jax's hearty chuckle cut him off, and he held his hands up in the air, Glock and all.

"Hey, I'm not gonna kill ya," he shook his head with an easy smirk. "I _want_ to. Trust me. But she's made it very clear that that's not what she wants, and I'm not dumb enough to go against my old lady's wishes, especially when it comes to somethin' like this. So I'd say it's your lucky day, _bro_."

Harrison's shoulders sagged with relief, like somehow, just because Jax had said he wasn't going to kill him, he was off the hook. He wasn't.

"So, what I really wanna know is - what were you playin' at, huh?" Jax smirked at him again. "You knew exactly who we were, and you knew exactly how our VP was connected to her when my intelligence officer first contacted you, didn't you?"

He waited to see Harrison's head dip down into a nod, and then charged ahead when he got the confirmation he was looking for.

"So what were you playin' at here?"

Now, Harrison actually had the balls to shrug. "What can I say? I got the call, saw an opportunity, and I took it. Call it morbid curiosity, ya know? Besides, the pay's good, and I figured I'd be able to deliver sooner or later."

Well, _someone_ obviously had his confidence back now that he thought he was off the hook.

Jax tipped his chin to Harrison with a grin. "Was any of that intel real, or was it all bullshit?"

"Some of it, sure," he just shrugged again. "Your guy is alive, I can tell you that. Well, last time I saw him, he was alive. I guess that doesn't mean he's _still_ alive."

"Uh huh. And when was the last time you saw him alive?"

At least Harrison had the good sense to glance down at his hands when he answered: "About a month ago."

Huh. That was interesting. While Harrison should know at this point that lying wasn't going to score him any points here, that didn't mean he was actually telling the truth. Considering he'd already lied pretty efficiently about what he'd done to Allie, it wasn't like Jax could take much this asshole said at face value.

"What about the cartel? Was that real, or was that bullshit too?"

He hesitated, opening his mouth and then closing it just quickly. Well, that was the answer then, and it was pretty much what they'd already figured.

"Lemme guess," Jax jumped in, leaning his elbow on the table again in effort to appear casual. "Darby was never under the cartel's protection, and you never went to Mexico. You sure as hell took our money for it though, didn't you?"

Harrison pressed his lips together in a tight line, smart enough to stay silent on this one. He didn't have to admit what they already knew.

"And you've been sitting here, on our dime, bringin' us bullshit intel over and over again, lying right to our faces, gettin' us all worked up about that cartel - for what? Just to take our money? Get closer to my old lady? What was your endgame, _bro_?"

He just lifted a shoulder. That didn't do anything but make Jax's blood boil, and he clenched his hand around that Glock until his knuckles turned white. Right about now, it would feel really good to lift his wrist and pull the trigger.

But he'd made Allie a promise, and he planned on keeping that promise today.

"Maybe I didn't really have an endgame," Harrison allowed easily. "Like I said, I saw an opportunity, and I took it. I was curious, and I liked taking your money. You didn't ask many questions and made it pretty easy for me. What can I say?"

Yeah, he'd heard about enough of this bullshit. Jax tipped his chin to Bobby, who took his cue and stepped forward so he could toss a piece of paper onto the table in front of Harrison.

Jax gestured to the paper with his free hand, keeping a tight grip on his Glock to remind himself he couldn't use it. "That's how much we've paid you over these last few months with some interest included for our trouble. We want it back, in _cash_ , within 72 hours."

Harrison glanced down at the number on that paper, mulling it all over as if he had some kind of say in how all this would play out for him. "That's fair. I can probably get it to you before then."

"Nah," Jax let a lazy grin slip across his face as he leaned back in his chair. "You're gonna want the full 72 hours."

Because he was going to need at least half of that to recover from what was about to happen to him. Harrison just didn't know it yet.

"And what happens if I don't get the cash to you in 72 hours?"

 _Wow_. He really was a dumb son of a bitch. A round of chuckles made its way through the club, and even Happy grinned at the dumbassery it took to ask a question like that. But, for appearance's sake, Jax decided to throw him a bone and an answer.

"I'll give ya one guess, _bro_."

Harrison's eyebrows flicked into his forehead, and he leaned back in his chair now too, mimicking Jax's position, and daring to look a little bit miffed. "I thought you said you weren't gonna kill me."

"Well," Jax chuckled, glancing over his shoulder at his VP, who just shook his head. "I promised my old lady I wouldn't kill ya for what you did to her. That's personal, and that's not somethin' any of us consider club business. Now, that being said," he jerked a ringed finger at Harrison, "if you decide not to pay us in the generous time we've allowed, that _is_ club business, and then I _do_ have reason to kill ya. So by all means, bro, take your time in gettin' us that cash."

There was a part of him that really did hope Harrison couldn't put all the cash together in time. Because everything he'd just said was true - Allie would have to back down on this one, whether she liked it or not. But then again, for his sake, and for the sake of their relationship, he also didn't want to have to deal with her fury either.

But now that the threat was out in the open, he had a feeling Harrison would deliver.

And on that note, it was time to get to the part he was really looking forward to. He tipped his chin to Happy, who took his cue and jerked Harrison up to his feet.

"Hey, wait a minute," he bit out in a panic. "What's going on here?"

Jax sauntered around the side of the table, taking his sweet time just because he could, and then clapped a hand on Harrison's shoulder to give it a firm squeeze.

"We're gonna take a little ride."

* * *

As the van pulled up to the warehouse, Jax clenched his jaw to give himself this last moment of anticipation. This was the only time he could completely lose his careful hold on his composure because at this particular moment, everyone else in the van was preoccupied with moving forward with this next phase of the plan, namely, getting Harrison into the warehouse and prepped to their president's specifications.

Jax hung back as Opie and Juice dragged Harrison out of the van - the asshole had long been gagged with his hands bound behind his back, so they didn't have to worry about hearing anymore of his bullshit until Jax was ready to take that gag off. But he needed this moment, because there'd be a before, and there'd be an after, and he wanted to give himself a moment to relish the before, if only because it'd make the after all the more satisfying.

When he left the van, he could allow himself to think about what that bastard did to her, the way he hurt her, the way he terrorized and brutalized her, and he could use that as fuel for what he'd been waiting for. But he also knew that once he left the van, he had to remain in control at all times. There was too much at stake here to fly off the handle.

Jax sent Bobby a curt nod and tugged on the collar of his flannel shirt for lack of a better way to cope with this moment. His eyes flitted shut for just a second, but it was a second too long - just enough time for the image of Allie being held face down on a bed to flash across his mind. Filing that away for the time being, they waited for Happy to wave them inside, and then Jax stalked towards the warehouse's entrance with Bobby right on his heels.

Pushing through the double-doors, it was difficult not to break out into a sprint. Because there, gagged and tied to a chair on the opposite end of the warehouse, sat the man who'd raped his old lady. The anticipation of this moment was something Jax had fantasized about more times than he was willing to admit. In his mind's eye, he'd pictured it almost exactly like this, complete with the horror-stricken expression rolling right out of Harrison's eyes.

Yeah.

This was exactly what he'd wanted. Now, as his heart pounded wildly in his chest, he almost couldn't allow himself to believe this was real. Tyler Harrison was finally going to get what was coming to him.

And he was going to savor every second of it.

Nothing, save for sprinting, could get him closer to Harrison fast enough and so, as he allowed the simmering emotions whirling around him to finally boil over, he sauntered down the length of the warehouse until Harrison sat just a few feet away from him.

When the panicked look in his eyes quickly gave away to sheer terror, Jax's lips curved into a dark grin as muffled cries fell on deaf ears. And as Harrison struggled fruitlessly against the bindings holding his arms behind him, the dark grin on Jax's lips turned downright diabolical.

"Take his gag off," Jax nodded to Chibs.

Chib obliged almost immediately, slicing the gag off in one quick motion, and then silently stepped back to give Jax the space he needed. Even though he could feel his brothers' presence behind him, he was glad he couldn't see them. The only thing he wanted in his line of sight right now was sitting in front of him.

Free of his gag, Harrison sputtered frantically in his chair, still struggling against his bindings. Jax dropped to a crouch and unsheathed the Ka-bar knife from his belt, which, naturally, only set Harrison off even more.

"Oh shit!" he cried out, sweat dripping down his face. "Fuck…look, whatever you're gonna do, just do it, alright? Just do it!"

Jax leisurely drew a line on the pavement with his knife before bringing his eyes back up to their target. "There's nothing about this that's gonna be quick."

His eyes filled with fear and as his nostrils flared, he began to nod silently, seeming to accept whatever fate Jax was about to bring down on him.

"Now, I might've promised her I wasn't gonna kill you, but that doesn't mean you get to walk away from this unscathed," Jax went on, his voice taking on a more quiet, sinister edge. "See, the thing about guys like you is you think you can do whatever you want, without any repercussions, and without having to answer to anyone. If you've got enough money, the right reputation, and even better connections, you can get away with just about anything you want, can't you?"

When Harrison didn't respond, Jax jerked his knife at his face.

"Nod your head when I'm talkin' to you, motherfucker."

His dark eyes widened in a flurry of terror and panic. That felt good to see, but what was about to happen was going to feel even better.

"So like I was saying," Jax smirked, tilting his head to the side as he spoke. "I bet you thought you'd gotten past this, right? That it's behind you, and after you get through the beating you think you're about to get and get us that cash you owe us, I bet you think this is over, don't you?"

Jax paused there, giving Harrison the opportunity to do as he was told and nod.

"And _that's_ what I've got a problem with. Because while you didn't ruin her life, you definitely changed it. She was never the same after you were done with her. Now, that's not to say she didn't rise from the ashes of the mess you made like the fucking beautiful phoenix she is, but she's felt the after-effects of what you did to her, and she's felt them for years while you just get to walk around, takin' people's money, drivin' that car, and just goin' about your life like nothing happened. I got a feeling, when all this blows over, that you're just gonna go right back to doin' what you were doin' before. And _that_ \- that I just can't have."

He glanced over his shoulder at Juice, who was all set with a camera in his hand, just like they'd planned. So, he shifted on his heel to turn his attention back to Harrison and flashed him a toothy snarl.

"Now, here's what I want you to do," he pulled a piece of paper out of his back pocket, unfolded it, and held it out for Harrison to see. "I want you to read that, out loud and right into that camera over there."

Harrison skimmed through what Jax had written, and then just stared back at him in defiance. When his lips parted to respond, this just kept getting better and better. "Are you kidding me? I'm not saying _anything_ in that camera, especially that."

His mouth quirked up at the corners, and he moved with lightning speed, slicing his elbow across the side of Harrison's face.

Damn, that felt _good._

He knew he had to be careful, though, because that was a slippery slope he might not slide back from.

Jax nodded, his eyes narrowing in on his target with sharp focus, and he smirked playfully: "You still think I'm kidding?"

Harrison sputtered once, spitting out a mouthful of blood, right along with a tooth, and shook his head. "No."

"Glad to hear it. Now, like I said, I want you to read this," he gestured to the paper with his free hand. "Make sure you speak loud enough so the camera can hear you."

After squeezing his eyes shut, Harrison shot him a tight nod.

"A'ight, _bro_. Let's get started."

Harrison blew out a shaky breath, squeezed his eyes shut again, but he still did as he was told as his eyes dropped to the paper in Jax's hand. "I am a fucking rapist."

When he got to the next line, the coward needed a second to muster up the courage to finally say the words out loud, his voice shaking on every syllable: "I raped Allie Levy when we were in college. I convinced everyone around her that she was lying about it. I stalked her and taunted her every chance I could. I lied to the school's investigator and administrators. I lied to anyone who would listen. I didn't care what happened to her or how my actions affected her life because I'm a rapist and because I don't care about anyone but myself. I thought I got away with it."

Jax flashed him a grin, and glanced over his shoulder at Juice, who nodded.

"I am a rapist who has no respect for women," Harrison went on, his voice still tremoring. "I don't understand the meaning of the word, _no_. I will never learn my lesson. I am a fucking piece of shit who doesn't deserve to live."

When Juice gave him the signal, letting him know he'd gotten everything they needed recorded, Jax turned his attention back to Harrison, stepping around until he gripped the back of the chair he'd been bound to. Then he tipped that chair all the way back until it was flush with the cement at their feet.

Jax let him lay there for a few long moments, drawing his knife out again, and grinned at the panic and terror that flashed across his face. But his dark grin evaporated as his lips curled up into a snarl. It was time to put this son of a bitch in his place once and for all. Taking a menacing step forward, he hovered over Harrison with his knife pointed directly at his face.

"I wanna make something very clear right now, _bro_. You will never, _ever_ escape this. It will always be right over your shoulder because _I'll_ always be right over your shoulder. You wanna try to go straight and get a real job? I'll be there, and that video you just made will be there too. You wanna get a girlfriend someday? Try to start a nice little family? I'll be there, and so will that video. You wanna visit your parents? I'll visit them too, and I'll bring that video with me. You wanna do _anything_ at any time, in any place, I'll be right there over your shoulder. You can run, you can hide, but you will never, _ever_ escape me. You will _never_ escape that video. You will _never_ escape what you did to her - because I'm not gonna let you."

And maybe that was the most fitting punishment of all. Harrison would always spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder, watching and waiting to see if _this_ was the day Jax decided to make good on that threat. Because there _would_ come a day when Jax would have to do just that - Juice would forever be tracking the motherfucker's movements like it was his only mission in life - and when that day came, he'd be ready with that video.

The sound of running water filled his ears, which meant it was time to move on. So, he tipped the chair upright again, moving aside so Bobby could cut Harrison's hands free, and then Chibs and Juice joined in to yank Harrison up to his feet. They dragged him over to the side of the warehouse, where Happy, Tig, Piney, and Opie were already waiting next to the industrial sink Happy had filled with ice cold water.

Harrison's steps stalled when he got a good look at what was waiting for him, but Bobby just shoved him from behind, forcing him to move ahead.

"I thought you said you weren't gonna kill me," he glanced at Jax from over his shoulder, despite the fact that Chibs shoved him forward.

Jax waited to respond until they had him right where they wanted him, standing in front of that sink full of water, and when Harrison was in position, he moved in behind him so he could murmur in Harrison's ear: "I'm not gonna kill ya. At least not today, and not if you deliver what you owe us on time. But I'm gonna take a few minutes right now to give you a little taste of what she felt the night you held her face down on that bed. I think it's only fair, and I wanna make sure I'm good and thorough about this before I'm done with you today."

Before Harrison had a chance to beg and plead, Opie and Tig took him by the shoulders, just like they'd choreographed to a T, and moved him right up to the edge of that sink. Then Jax grabbed him by the back of the head and shoved his face in the water. He held Harrison down, letting him jerk and struggle, but never budging an inch. When he felt a hand on his shoulder, his signal that he needed to pull back before he went too far, Jax yanked Harrison's head out of the water, giving him a moment to sputter and gasp for air.

"How's that feel?" Jax growled in his ear. "Pretty shitty, huh? You scared yet?"

He waited for Harrison's head to dip down into a nod, but that still wasn't good enough. He still wasn't quite finished. So, he shoved Harrison's face back down into that icy water, relishing in his futile struggle and muffled screams for help until he felt a hand on his shoulder again. On cue, Jax jerked his head up from the water, and gave him another moment to gulp for breath.

"How 'bout now?" he murmured. "Still scared?"

If anything, the steady control he felt coursing through him was a work of art. There was almost something spiritual about that control. The resolve that this way was the _right_ way. The release and the affirmation that he'd gotten what he wanted, and he'd gotten what he wanted for _her,_ and on her terms too.

On that note, Jax shoved Harrison's face into the water one more time, just for good measure and just because the feeling of holding his head down, of putting that pressure into the back of his head, of making him feel what she'd felt - that was a feeling he wanted to savor.

Finally, he pulled Harrison up, letting him spurt and sputter and gasp for air, and then he tipped his chin to Happy, who nodded in response. Happy and Juice flanked Harrison on both sides as they dragged his sorry ass back over to the center of the warehouse, and Juice haphazardly kicked the chair in the middle of the plastic tarp away because they didn't need it anymore. They held him there until Jax made his way to them, taking his time to saunter over there and smile slowly and darkly at the new flash of panic on Harrison's face. They weren't done yet. Not even close.

"On your knees," Jax told him a low, tight voice.

Harrison needed some prompting from Happy and Juice but eventually, he dropped to his knees. Jax flashed him a menacing smirk when he saw the way Harrison's hands trembled at his sides.

Good.

"Hands on the ground, _bro_."

Harrison swallowed hard, but he did as he was told.

"Lemme guess," Jax murmured to him hoarsely, gesturing toward the hands spread out in front of him. "You're right-handed, huh?"

He waited for Harrison to nod, and then he crouched down to meet the piece of shit at his level and so he could look him in the eye.

"You touched her without her permission," Jax pushed up the sleeve of his flannel, making damn sure his new tattoo was on display, and then he pointed his knife down at Harrison's hands, "and I can't let that stand."

Without hesitation, Jax shifted his weight until his foot pressed down into Harrison's right hand, gently adding to the pressure again and again until that tell-tale crunch echoed through the warehouse. Harrison's wails fell on deaf ears as Jax gritted his teeth and ground his foot into Harrison's shattered bones, waiting for another crunch and then another and then another before he felt a hand on his shoulder again.

Time to pull it back.

He pushed up to his feet just as Opie moved in, but Jax wanted to be the one to bring Harrison up to speed on what was going to happen next.

"Now," he informed Harrison curtly while Bobby and Juice yanked him back up to his knees. "You're a lucky sonuvabitch that she didn't end up callin' us like she threatened she would. 'Cuz if that happened, you can bet your sorry ass we would've killed ya, and we wouldn't have thought twice about it. And if _that_ had happened, my boy, Ope, here," Jax gestured to his VP, who was hovering off to the side, "would've been leading that show. So, I figure, it's only fair for him to get his chance now," he flashed Harrison a grin, "seeing as how you raped his sister."

With that, he stepped aside so Opie could descend, and he didn't hesitate. He reared his fist back and slammed it into Harrison's face. As blood began to leak from Harrison's nose, Opie pulled his elbow back only to pummel it right into Harrison's face again. And as Jax hung to the side, watching this beating from the sidelines, everything else just faded away, save for the ringing in his ears, and the red behind his eyes. All he could see, all he could picture, was Allie, face down on that bed, and her beautiful body, one that he'd spent so many days and nights worshipping, stripped and debased at the hands of the broken man at his feet.

So, really, he'd made the right call in letting Ope take the reins for this part. Because if he started down the road his VP was currently on, he didn't trust himself to stop.

But Ope deserved the right to hand out some retribution of his own, and Jax gave him plenty of time, watching him pummel that son of a bitch over and over again, letting him walk right up to the line of rendering Harrison unconscious, and then he tipped his chin to the club brothers lingering off to the side. In a flash, they got to work, gripping Ope by the shoulders to pull him back, to stop him from going too far because that was what she wanted, and in the end, it took four of them to haul Opie off the battered and broken body underneath him.

Harrison's head lolled back as Happy kept him in place, not like he was going anywhere. There was still one more part of the plan left to execute, and _this_ was the part that had Jax practically trembling with anticipation.

As he'd mulled over all his options over these last few days, and after it was clear to him that strangulation, and anything else of that nature, was officially off the table, the idea dawned on him like a lightbulb. It was simple, really. It would leave a terrible, lasting impact that Harrison also wouldn't be able to escape, just like that video. And in the end, the idea had sparked from a conversation he'd had with Allie not that long ago, when they'd been on their way to the precinct to deliver some justice of their own to Dominic King.

When Harrison's eyes squeezed shut, Jax jerked his chin forward. "Look at me, motherfucker. I'm not finished with you yet."

Even though one of Harrison's eyes was swollen shut, he managed to squint just enough so Jax knew he was indeed looking at him.

"Good," Jax allowed and dug his knife into Harrison's index finger on his left hand just for good measure. "Now that I have your attention, there's just one more thing I gotta do. Well, actually, _a couple_ more things. See the problem with that video we just made is that I gotta show it to someone for it to actually have an impact. And when we're done here, and when you pay back what you owe us, you're gonna _try_ to go back to your life the way it was before and try to pretend none of this ever happened, aren't you?"

This time, though, he didn't give Harrison the opportunity to respond.

"And that I just can't abide," Jax grinned darkly before moving the tip of his Ka-bar knife two inches away from Harrison's left eye. "No matter where you go, no matter what you do, you'll never be able to shake this off. I spent a lot of my time tryin' to come up with the right way to go about this - I seriously considered cuttin' your dick off and feedin' it to you, but that seemed a little messy. Too much room for error, ya know? I made my ol' lady a promise, after all, and I intend to keep that promise. So, I finally settled on somethin' you're never gonna be able to shake off, no matter what you do or how hard you try. You'll never be able to shake _me_ , and what you did, and what I'm about to do to _you_."

There was no further need to explain himself, and he waited just long enough for the club to flank around him, each of them grabbing hold of some part of Harrison to press him into the ground and keep him still. And then, Jax brought his knife right up to Harrison's forehead and, through the piercing screams that filled the warehouse, carved an _R._

Chibs stepped in as his assistant as he moved on to carving out an _A,_ carefully wiping away the dark lines of blood his Ka-Bar knife left in its wake. With his forehead furrowed in concentration, Jax moved on to the next letter - he only had one shot at this, and he wasn't about to screw it up. Once the _P_ was perfectly formed, and that new burst of blood wiped away, Jax meticulously finished the job as Harrison jerked and howled, refusing to give the man a moment's respite, until the other letters, an _I_ , an _S,_ and a _T_ were carved across his bloody mess of a forehead.

Then he took a step back so he could survey his handiwork, and he nodded to himself with a self-satisfied smirk.

But he still wasn't quite done yet.

Without needing to look over his shoulder, he simply extended his free hand behind him and the large, menacing-looking tattoo gun he'd personally selected found its way to his open, gloved palm. He glanced over his shoulder and shot Happy a curt nod before turning his focus to the trembling pile of shit lying on the ground in front of him.

"Now hold still," Jax murmured to Harrison with a sly smirk. "I've never done this before."

And then, without a moment's thought for his victim, Jax shot forward, and aimed that tattoo gun right on the space Happy and Juice cleared away on Harrison's chest. With the hum of that gun buzzing in his ears, Jax got to work again, meticulously drawing out an _R_ in permanent ink right underneath the base of Harrison's neck, and right where it would be most difficult to hide, just like the word carved into his forehead.

He paused there, cocking his head to the side as he appraised his work.

"How's that look, Hap?"

Happy leaned in then to examine the lines of that first letter, and he nodded with satisfaction. "Looks pretty good, prez. You can go even deeper if you want."

A cruel, sadistic smile crept across Jax's lips and he couldn't have cared less how these new psychopathic tendencies looked to his brothers. The feather-light grip he'd had on his control just slipped away and now, all he had left was the unadulterated rage bubbling over and spilling into every nerve ending.

"That's what I like to hear."

So he got back to work, drawing out an _A_ right next to the _R_ on Harrison's chest, and he pressed the needle down on the gun until Harrison wailed and hollered and until the gun stuttered in his hand.

Happy chuckled next to him, gesturing to his handiwork with a grin. "That might be a little _too_ deep, prez. You hit bone and you fuck up the look of the tat."

"Aw, shit."

"No worries," Happy flashed him a grin, a real rarity but the circumstances certainly called for it. "Just pull it back a tiny bit, and then you're golden."

Jax took that note and ran with it, working through the rest of the letters with careful precision until all six letters were forever etched on his chest. And then Happy and Juice flipped Harrison over so he could repeat the same ministrations at the back of Harrison's neck and the top of both hands too, just to really be good and thorough about it. There were plenty of ways Harrison could cover up his handiwork, but he'd still never be able to shake it off.

That was enough.

That was all he'd needed to let himself see and as he leaned down to Harrison's battered body one more time, vindication raged through him.

"One last thing," Jax growled in his ear. "You try to get anything I just did removed, and I'll know about it. You won't be able to hide that from me either. And if you do, I'll just be right there, ready to do this all over again," then he propped an elbow on his knee and tapped two fingers to his forehead, "See ya around, bro."

As Jax stepped away from the pitiful figure cowering on the ground a few feet away from him, he knew he was finally ready for this to be over. He'd done what he'd wanted and it had felt exactly the way he thought it would. An eruption of rage, vindication, frenzied madness, and finally, thankfully, relief flooded over him as he turned calm eyes to his VP and nodded.

Moving a few paces away from the scene, Jax crouched down into a squat and tossed the bloodied knife and tattoo gun away from him. Now that the damage was done and he'd exhausted the storm, he wanted those things as far away from him as possible, at least for now.

Jax was still crouched down to the floor as he turned his focus back to the mess just feet away from him, finding his brothers already carrying out the rest of the plan. Chibs and Juice got to work in patching Harrison up just enough to make certain he'd survive his wounds, while Happy carefully deposited the knife and the tattoo gun back into his black duffel bag so they could be cleaned, and then stepped aside so Tig, Opie, Bobby, and Piney could clean up the rest of it.

By the time Jax was leaning against Samcro's van, Opie was already advancing on him with his hand outstretched. Jax barked out a laugh when he saw what his VP extended toward him and shook his head even as he slid the cigarette out of Opie's fingers.

"Thought you might need somethin' like this," Ope advised him, turning until he leaned into the van shoulder to shoulder with his prez. "You know, take the edge off."

Jax managed to huff out a laugh and placed the cigarette between his lips with shaky fingers. Opie didn't hesitate to oblige him with an open flame and before long, Jax was puffing away on probably the only thing that could take him off this ledge and place him back in control.

"Just don't tell my old lady, a'ight?" he grinned as he wrapped his lips around the cigarette again. "I got her convinced I'm workin' on quittin' this shit."

"I won't tell if you don't," Opie tried to smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes, and then tipped his chin to him. "You alright, brother?"

Jax blew out a deep exhale and took another deep pull from his cigarette, savoring that hit of nicotine just this once.

"That was some pretty heavy shit back there," Opie went on. "But I think I got what I wanted out of it. Did you?"

Allie's face flashed across his mind again, and he squeezed his eyes shut. That dark current he'd been wading in slowly ebbed away - it was still there, and it probably would be for some time, but that darkness finally started to disappear.

And now, all he could see was her beautiful dark eyes shining up at him. Her soft, chestnut hair falling in front of her eyes as she laughed. Her lips parting in that captivating smile he knew and loved. She was free, and so was he.

"Yeah, bro," Jax murmured, his head dipping down to shoot his VP a resolved nod. "I got what I wanted."

* * *

About three hours later, once everything had been cleaned up and Harrison had been dropped off at his apartment about an hour away from Charming, Jax finally rolled his bike in his garage and hit the button to close the door behind him.

He'd seen Dan's car parked next to Allie's BMW in the garage, so it was no surprise when, after he kicked off his white Nikes and hung up his cut for the night, he found the newlyweds huddled around the kitchen island, scouring over some paperwork with a computer in front of them. Dan's eyes lit up when he saw Jax and waved brightly at him.

"Hey, friend!"

"'Sup, bro," Jax grinned as he made his way over to the island and nodded to Adrian in greeting.

"Guess what?" Dan asked in a sing-song voice.

"What's that?"

Dan's hands shot up in the air in victory: "We found an apartment!"

Well, this day just kept getting better and better. With a wide grin, he reached over and clapped his arms around Dan in a quick bro-hug, and then slapped Adrian on the shoulder.

"That's great news, fellas. When's movin' day?"

Dan quirked a bitchy eyebrow at him. "Well, that was _quick_. You happy to see us leave or what, friend?"

"I'm happy that you're happy," Jax allowed good-naturedly, even as Adrian shook his head next to them.

"Uh huh, _sure_ ," Dan swiveled his shoulders at him. "Yeah, I got that. And to answer your question, our lease starts on the first of next month."

Which also happened to be about two weeks away. _Perfect._

That was plenty of time for Allie to come around to the idea that her world was changing, yet again, and that the general ease and comfort she'd found with Dan as her roommate was also going to change. He imagined their friendship would shift a bit too, as it often did with these things, but they'd still see each other every day at the studio, so it wasn't like _everything_ was changing all at once.

But that was life. Always shifting and turning and evolving. And that was a good thing too.

"I am already expecting you and your club to do all the heavy lifting, by the way. These hands just weren't made for hard labor, you know? And before you even ask," Dan went on with some familiar sass. " _Yes_ , our live-in legal counsel has already reviewed and approved our new lease."

"Well, I think that goes without sayin', bro," he laughed. "She'd string you up by your feet if ya didn't."

"Yes, this is true."

He grinned at Dan again, tipping his chim to him. "So where's my ol' lady at, huh? Upstairs?"

"Oh yeah," Dan rolled his eyes. "Pretty sure I heard the shower running about two minutes ago, so if you hurry your cute little behind up there, you might be able to catch her."

Jax wagged a finger at him as he shifted on his heel to sidestep around the kitchen island and head right for the stairs. "I like the way you think, bro."

"Okay, bye," Dan waved to him, nudging his husband with a sly smirk. "Have fun!"

He was still shaking his head, even with a smile on his face, as he took the stairs two at a time, just eager to get inside that bathroom and inside that shower with her as soon as he could. And he didn't have to wait that long either, because as soon as the bathroom was within reach, he could hear the shower running behind the door and feel the steam drifting out from underneath it. So, he let himself inside, his fingers already making quick work of the buttons on his flannel when he kicked the door shut behind him. Once his flannel dropped to the tile floor, he grabbed the collar on his white undershirt and yanked it over his head. By the time his hands worked on his belt, he heard her sweet voice drift out through the running water.

"Jax?"

"Hey, baby," he called back to her, grinning when he saw the outline of her body move around behind the glass shower door.

Not wanting to waste any more time, he shed the rest of his clothes, leaving a trail of jeans and boxer briefs in his wake, and pulled the shower door open so he could step inside.

When the steam cleared, he found her easily. Wet hair slicked back, water dripping down her beautiful body, those runner's legs flexing as she turned to face him, and his hands closed around her cheeks before she had the chance to get another word out. His lips crashed against her mouth, desperate to taste her, desperate to have her body wrapped around him, desperate just to have _her_.

He'd needed this the second he left the house this morning, but had known he'd just have to wait. There'd been some business to take care of first, and now that it was over, the rest of their lives could finally start.

Allie pulled away with a smile playing on her lips and she took him by the shoulders, gently turning him around so he could dip his head back into the water. With that gentle smile still on her lips, she reached for the shampoo bottle in the built-in shelf behind her, squeezed some into her hand, sudsed it up, and started working it through his hair with a warmth that made tears sting his eyes.

This woman was everything.

Everything he needed. Everything he wanted.

He'd never take it for granted - not one second. And as he leaned into her ministrations, closing his eyes at the feeling of her fingers gently massaging and kneading his hair, he knew exactly what she was doing.

She was helping him wash it away. Helping him finish it and take him through this last, inevitable step. They didn't need to talk about where he'd been today and what he'd been doing because she already knew. She'd made it clear she didn't need the details, and he figured that was okay too. Having to look her in the eye and tell her exactly what he'd done, how it'd made him feel - that might cut into the satisfaction he'd found today and turn it into something they probably wouldn't like. And there was no need to go down that road anyway because it was over, and Allie never had to worry about Tyler Harrison - or whatever the hell his name was - ever again.

Allie gently tipped his head back into the water again so she could wash the shampoo out of his hair. When he straightened his neck again, he swallowed hard, overwhelmed with the passion he felt for her every single day, the devotion he'd continue to give her every single day, and with the need to protect her from everything every single day.

"I love you, Allie," he murmured.

Her soft lips curled at the corners as her head tilted to the side and her fingers gently traced that new tattoo on his left forearm. "I love you too, Jax."

And then he didn't waste any more time. His lips sealed over hers as his hands slipped around her waist, and he whirled them around, capturing her laugh with his mouth as he backed her up against the tile wall behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - I can't tell you how many times I went back and forth over what should happen to Harrison over these last few months. Sometimes, I thought Jax was going to kill him for sure, and other times I just had no idea how to let all that play out. Once it became clear to me that Allie was never going to go for Jax killing him, the rest of it kind of slid into place, and I think I settled on something that (hopefully!) satisfied everyone, Jax and Allie included.
> 
> So, the next chapter is the very last one. I thought a lot about how far Jax and Allie have come both individually and as a couple, and so I decided to make the last chapter show how everything has really come full circle for them. I think it puts a really great bow on the whole story and ends in the right place. As of right now, I don't have any immediate plans for a sequel because I'm working on two other stories right now (Lost & Found and a new one that will eventually take over Fly By Night's Wednesday update slot). That doesn't mean I'm not going to do it at some point, just not right now ;)
> 
> Anyway, this was really the chapter we've all been waiting for, and I can't wait to hear your reactions! As always, thank you so much for reading!


	36. Chapter Thirty-Six

Wind in his hair, fresh air in his lungs, the freedom of the open road in front of him - that was more than enough. Today was a beautiful afternoon, with a warm breeze sweeping around his face, heating and cooling it at the same time. He knew now, in light of these past few months, to appreciate those kinds of things because they were the kinds of things that made the good in his life that much more precious.

Over these last few months, he'd gone from flailing through this president gig, stuck in a horrible, unhappy marriage, desperate to right the ship and get the club out of guns once and for all, and just in general, deeply unsatisfied with the state of his life.

It was amazing what a little bit of time and a kickass lawyer could do.

And so, thanks to time and that kickass lawyer, he was en route to the studio with a few of his club brothers right behind him. They had some business to take care of, and after that, he'd be counting down the minutes until he could go home and unwind on his couch, with a beer in one hand and the other wrapped around his old lady.

At the end of the day, that was the only place he really wanted to be. At home, with her. Always with her.

When they pulled into the studio's parking lot, he found himself grinning when he caught sight of that familiar silver BMW. He swung a leg over the side of his bike, adjusted his cut on reflex, and nodded to Opie, who fell into step next to him, as Bobby, Chibs, and Tig trailed behind them. Chibs and Tig didn't necessarily need to be present for this meeting, but Jax felt like it was finally time they saw their lawyer in action.

They wouldn't be disappointed.

The hallways of Sweet Productions were bustling as usual, which was always a good sight to see. Filming was underway - in a few places, it seemed, but Jax didn't need to get a look at any of the action, regardless of the strict rules instituted by the studio's lawyer, who really just had the actors' best interest in mind. And besides, he was already reaping all the fringe benefits he could possibly want from this partnership anyway.

They meandered down the hallway, headed for the conference room Allie had given him directions to earlier, only slowing their steps when the club's lawyer materialized about thirty feet away. She tucked some dark hair behind her ear with a huff, resting a fist on her hips when their eyes locked. Even in her high heels, she was more pocket-sized than anything.

And, he noted with a slow smile, she looked pissed. _Really_ pissed. And he found himself rolling his bottom lip underneath his teeth in response.

But still, her current mood also meant he was in a little bit of trouble now too.

"You're late," Allie called out to them, irritation flickering across her beautiful face. She crossed her arms over her chest, and he half-expected her to start tapping one of her high heels impatiently.

At least he had the good sense to wince. They were five minutes late, but for her, it might as well have been an hour.

"My bad, Attorney Levy," he called out to her lightly, holding his hands up in defense as he approached her. "I'm not gonna make excuses for somethin' there's just no excuse for."

Allie's lips curled into an annoyed smile. "Uh huh. Better not happen again, Mr. Teller."

"Or what?" he shot back. "You gonna drop me as a client?"

She narrowed her eyes ever so slightly, and hitched a hand onto her hip as she shifted her attention to the other club members who flanked him. Bobby seemed to waver a little, shifting from side to side, as he waved apologetically to her. Chibs and Opie followed suit with their own round of waves and apologies. Tig just winked at her.

Seeing as though there was still some distance between them in this long hallway, Jax seized the opportunity to let his eyes linger on her legs, which were mostly hidden by a tight black leather pencil skirt - the same one he'd watched her slide up over her hips this morning from his vantage point on their bed. She wasn't showing anywhere near enough skin, with her black silky button-up tucked into that skirt. Still, just the little flashes she _did_ show, like delicate forearms, muscular calves, a slim neck - that was more than enough to tease him until they were both home later tonight.

And then there was the delicate gold necklace with the _J_ nestled gently to the side, and right over her heart.

Always more than enough to make him smile. Just like the rest of her.

But it was the irritation flashing across her face that pulled him in the most. And he found himself reeled in, just like he always was, by the heat creeping into her dark eyes.

"The sellers are already here and waiting for us," Allie told him sourly as they ventured closer to where she stood in the hallway. "I wanted to go over a few things with you _before_ the meeting started, and _before_ the sellers showed up."

His lips pulled apart in another wince, and he quickly tried to make up for his mistake by leaning in to kiss her cheek when he was close enough.

"Sorry, baby," he murmured in her ear. "Won't happen again."

Allie's lips parted, and she blew out an exasperated sigh as he winked at her, stepping around her to head inside the conference room. The rest of the club members behind him dutifully followed his lead, greeting their lawyer and their president's old lady with friendly, easy grins as Allie gestured for them to step inside the conference room.

Jax nodded to the small group sitting closest to the door, already holding his hand out while Allie moved around to his left.

"Gentlemen," she started warmly. "This is Jax Teller, Samcro's president," she gestured to him as Jax stepped forward to start shaking hands, and then she moved right down the line, "and Opie Winston, the club's vice president. Bobby Munson, club treasurer, and these are club members, Chibs Telford and Tig Trager."

They each stepped forward as their lawyer introduced them, diligently shaking hands and nodding their heads in greeting, so Allie could get to the business of finishing the introductions. She went down the opposite line, introducing the sellers and their lawyer, and after the general niceties were over, she gestured to the conference table so everyone could take their seats.

Jax sat down near the end of the table, leaving a chair open to his left, and he nodded to the men sitting across from him. When she'd set up this meeting after initial negotiations, Allie had suggested both sides meet at the studio for a more neutral setting, and just like they'd done with other business meetings before. If the sellers were okay with taking a meeting at a porn studio, they'd be more than okay with doing business with an MC too.

Allie slid into the chair to his left, careful to keep a safe distance away from him. As far as they knew, the sellers and their attorney weren't aware of the personal, and very intimate, relationship between the club's president and their lawyer, and it was probably best to keep it that way for as long as possible.

Without even sparing him a glance, Allie slipped into work mode, setting a few folders down on the table in front of her. She also set a pen down in between them, careful not to make eye contact with him.

Then she flipped one of the folders open and pushed a set of papers across the table to start the meeting.

"Here are the details of my clients' offer," Allie started in a smooth, even voice, and Jax found himself biting back a shit-eating grin. "As you'll see, everything is in order and exactly as we discussed."

The sellers' attorney pressed a tight smile on his face as he slid the paperwork closer to him. He glanced down at it, and then after clearing his throat, he glanced at his clients, who nodded to him, and then he unearthed some papers of his own and pushed them across the table to Jax.

"Mr. Teller, we appreciate your initial offer, and after some consultation with my clients, they've decided to counter."

Jax didn't miss a beat, reaching across the table to get those papers, and then he slid them in front of his lawyer, right where they belonged. If he glanced at her, he guessed he'd probably see steam pouring out of her ears.

These guys weren't off to a great start, and completely by-passing the only woman in the room, who also happened to be the _smartest_ person in the room, didn't exactly set the best tone either.

Allie took a moment to skim through the first page, and then she huffed out a laugh, pushing the papers away from her with the kind of aggressive control only a seasoned lawyer would have.

"An extra 20K? _Really_?" Allie bit out as she rested her elbows on the table. "That's not happening."

The lawyer sitting across from them just shook his head. "You're not even going to consult your clients? I believe they're the ones who need to okay this, and I believe _they're_ the ones who expressed such strong interest in purchasing this rental property right out from underneath my clients."

At this point, it was all Jax could do to keep himself from leaning back in his chair so he could rub his hands together in anticipation. Instead, he glanced at his VP from the corner of his eye, and they shared a knowing grin.

Yeah, their lawyer had this under control.

"I don't need to consult them," Allie pressed a tight smile to her face, her back stiff and taut, ready to go to battle. "Because I would never let them sign on the dotted line of this offer even if they wanted to."

Now, Jax's lips pulled apart in a smirk before he could stop it.

"Well, Attorney Levy, that's a little presumptuous, don't you think?" the idiot lawyer sitting across from them had the balls to reply. "My clients have made a fair counter offer after _your_ clients decided to go so far below the initial asking price."

Allie didn't miss a beat and didn't even blink. "You're right, Attorney Ramirez. My clients _are_ very interested in acquiring this rental property, but _only_ at a fair market price. They will not be nickeled and dimed, especially when there are plenty of other properties for sale in the area. Your counter offer is simply unrealistic, and if this is the offer your clients are going to bring to the table, then I think we're done here."

Jax's mouth quirked up in a cocky grin, and he leaned back in his chair just enough to gauge the reactions at the end of their side of the table. Chibs had stilled in his chair with his eyebrows lodged high into his forehead, clearly a little stunned by the abrupt 180 this meeting had just taken. Tig, on the other hand, leaned into the table on his elbows with a sly grin on his face, clearly enjoying the show.

"Well," Attorney Ramirez shot back with a wry smile on his stupid face. "Your clients, Attorney Levy, also happen to be a well-known criminal organization with a reputation for intimidation and muscle. It's no secret they run guns, and who knows what else, so as far as I'm concerned, and as far as my clients are concerned, _your_ clients don't have a legitimate leg to stand on. We are well within our rights to counter, and to counter however we see fit. Or, did they not cover that for you in law school?"

Well, shit just hit the fan, and Attorney Ramirez was about to get his ass handed to him. Jax glanced at his lawyer, and grinned when he found her staring back at the man across from them with a dry smile curling her lips.

Oh yeah.

This was about to get _really_ good. Where was some popcorn when he needed it?

"My clients are a legitimate organization with registered taxes on file," Allie started in a cool, poised voice that was practically lethal. "They have a fully-formed and functioning _legal_ LLC that they use to purchase properties, such as the ones your clients are selling, and as I'm sure you're aware, they've had great success with that LLC and have been managing multiple legitimate properties for months now. _Your_ clients, however, have a history of bungling their investments and needing a bail-out to stay afloat, and those particularly questionable business practices are exactly why they've found themselves in the position of needing my clients to bail them out with this transaction. Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that they rolled into the parking lot in a truck with a Confederate flag on the back - in northern California, no less - so, in a litmus test as to whose clients are more politically correct, let alone palatable, _your_ clients don't exactly have a legitimate leg to stand on, do they?"

Chibs barked out a laugh, quickly recovering by trying to pretend it was just a cough, while Tig made no such efforts to hide his amusement at this whole thing. Opie and Bobby were used to this by now, and they just leaned back in their chairs, grinning at the victory they were right on the edge of winning. And Jax just sat back, basking in it all with a smug smirk on his face and his eyes on the squirming sellers across from them.

Attorney Ramirez's eyes widened the size of saucers, as if he _finally_ realized he'd just been bested by the only woman in the room, not to mention the smartest person in the room. And when his lips parted to respond, Allie swooped in for the kill.

"This property has been on the market for much longer than others like it," Allie pushed on, still calm and poised as ever. "Your clients really should recognize our offer as the gift it is so they can finally unload it. Asking for an additional handout, especially after we'd already negotiated and agreed on a fair market price, is a little presumptuous, don't you think?"

She paused there, letting every man sitting across from her sweat and squirm, and her lips lifted at the sight.

"Now, it's possible my clients have some room to move on their initial offer, but an additional 20K is out of the question."

At this point, Allie shifted her attention to her right, meeting Jax's gaze with a knowing, albeit professional, grin, and Jax just moved right down the line, glancing at the club treasurer for approval. When Bobby dipped his head into a nod, Allie flashed him a smile in agreement.

"The highest we're willing to go," Bobby chimed in, seeing as how he knew the club's finances like the back of his hand, "is an extra 5K. But that's it. We're not movin' another inch on this deal."

With a curt nod in agreement, Allie sliced her dark eyes back at the sellers' lawyer. "That's our final offer, or we walk," she paused there with a smirk, "Aren't you going to consult your clients?"

When Attorney Ramirez blinked back at her, he must've known by now that he'd been outsmarted and outgunned by the lawyer sitting across from him. And as Jax watched his lawyer lean back in her chair, knowing full well that regardless if the club walked away with the property or walked from the deal altogether, they'd still come out the winners in this meeting - his eyes darkened at the sight before him.

She really was something to behold. As smoking hot as she was smart, sharp as a whip, carefully poised and cool as a cucumber, not to mention dressed like a million bucks. He let his eyes flick back to her one more time, and he had to adjust a little uncomfortably in his chair.

"Alright," Attorney Ramirez pushed out with a sigh before glancing at his clients. "Can you give us a moment to talk this over?"

"Of course," Allie grinned. "We'll just be right outside in the hallway."

With that, she pushed out of her chair, gesturing for the rest of them to follow her lead, and they took that direction easily, filing out into the hallway one by one. Jax made sure to bring up the rear, and he flashed the men still in the room a cocky smirk on his way out.

* * *

Allie leaned up against the wall in the hallway and blew out a deep breath. Well, they'd literally left it all on the table, and now it was up to the sellers to decide if they wanted to move forward. Of course, they'd be stupid not to, but she also wasn't convinced they were actually smart, considering the political statement they so willingly and so proudly displayed on the back of their trucks.

Bobby bumped her with his shoulder as he joined her by the wall. "Nice work in there, killah."

"Thanks," she laughed, finally letting her eyes drift over the other side of the wall, where Jax was leaning with his hands shoved in his front pockets.

"No shit," Tig just shook his head with a slightly depraved grin on his face. He clapped her on the shoulder as he passed by. "I could kiss ya," and then his crazy eyes shot to Jax with his hands up in defense, "But I won't. Don't worry, prez."

Jax just huffed out a laugh and shook his head with a grin. "I wasn't."

He watched Tig meander down the hallway, probably to see if he could peep on some filming before they headed back inside the conference room. When Jax shifted his gaze back to her, his navy blue eyes were so dark they were almost pitch black. She knew exactly what _that_ meant, and so she allowed him one slow smirk, and he matched it with an even sexier one, before it was time to check her professionalism.

She returned Chibs' nod as he flanked Jax by the wall and grinned at Opie when he moved in on the other side of his president.

"So you think they're gonna take the new deal?" Jax called out to her in an even voice, despite the heat flooding his dark eyes.

"If they're smart, they will," she shrugged easily. "If they don't, there are plenty of other options out there."

His head dipped down in a nod, but his eyes never left her, even when she felt the need to shift the focus elsewhere, and looked to Opie now with a smile.

"Hey, did you hear back from Donna yet?" she asked her former step-brother.

When Opie's face split apart happily, she already had her answer, but couldn't wait to hear it anyway. This had been such a long time coming - as far as she knew Opie hadn't seen his kids since at least last Christmas, and the fact that Donna had even been willing to put visitation back on the table was huge all on its own. It meant this was working. All their efforts, all the time and money and hard work - it was finally starting to pay off.

Maybe the club wasn't completely in the clear yet - after all, they still had a gun running deal with the Mayans, not that she knew the details of it. But they were further down the right path than they'd been before, if Donna's willingness to negotiate new terms was any indication.

"Yeah," Opie murmured with a grin and another nod. "I talked to her this morning."

That got everyone else's attention in the hallway, and Jax turned to his VP, clapping him on the shoulder.

"What'd she say, Ope?" Jax asked, his eyebrows lifted high into his forehead in anticipation.

Opie hesitated a moment, probably just for effect, and then he flashed them all a wide, elated grin. "She's gonna let the kids come to family dinner next week. It's just gonna be for a couple of hours, but it's better than nothin'!"

Cheers and whoops echoed around the hall as they gathered around Opie to congratulate him. Allie had to stand up on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck, and when she stepped aside to let the others wrap him in some bro-hugs, she felt a familiar flannel-covered arm snake around her waist and pull her in against an equally familiar leather-covered chest. His warm breath kissed her ear, and she shivered at the heady contact.

She shot him a wary glance from over her shoulder and all she got was a crooked smirk in return. That gave her no choice but to stealthily step out of his grip, and when the hand at her hip just tightened to curb her efforts, she playfully swatted it away.

Jax smirked at her exasperation, opting to shrug his shoulders as if to say, _So what? I can touch you whenever I want._

Lucky for him, that was right around the time Attorney Ramirez opened the conference room door again, signaling he was ready for them to join the others inside. She'd just have to remind Jax later, once the meeting was over, that he needed to at least _try_ to maintain some professionalism and some distance whenever they had meetings like this. Sure, he'd been doing pretty well so far, and she was impressed at his ability to keep his hands to himself when they were sitting next to each other at the conference table. But two seconds earlier, and Attorney Ramirez would've caught them right in the act - it was one thing to do it in front of club members, who knew where things stood and why. It was a whole other thing to do it in front of potential sellers at a business meeting.

She also figured he _knew_ that but just hadn't been able to help himself.

After rounding Tig back up, they all filed inside the conference room again, dropping back down into the seats they'd previously claimed.

Now, Attorney Ramirez had the good sense just to cut right to the chase.

"My clients have decided to take your counter offer," he told them with some exasperation, as if he couldn't quite believe the way this meeting had gone off the rails.

Of course, it hadn't gone off the rails for the club - Allie had always been perfectly in control. Attorney Ramirez obviously hadn't done his homework before showing up to this business meeting, but that wasn't Allie's fault, and it definitely wasn't her problem either.

Allie glanced at Jax out of the corner of her eye, just to make absolutely sure that he still wanted to move forward with these particular sellers. When she saw his head dip into a subtle nod, she took that as her cue to press ahead.

"Excellent," she grinned at the men across the table. "I'm happy to draw up the new offer. I'll email it to you as soon as it's ready, and perhaps we can skip the theatrics next time - I'm happy to initiate an electronic signing once everyone is in agreement on the new terms."

And, she didn't want to have to be in a room with these assholes again if she could help it.

"I think that's probably best," Attorney Ramirez pressed a tight smile to his face. "I'll be looking for your email, Attorney Levy."

"No problem," she grinned back as the disgruntled sellers stood up from the table, obviously eager to get out of there. She followed suit now, standing up along with the rest of the club to her right, and dutifully shook Attorney Ramirez's hand before he high-tailed it out of the conference room.

They waited just long enough for the sellers and their jerk of an attorney to clear out of the room before the celebration began. More cheers and whoops filled the room as Tig did a little victory dance before swooping in and lifting Allie right off her feet, planting a big, wet kiss on her cheek in the process.

"That was beautiful, Attorney Levy," Tig grinned down at her, even as Jax playfully grabbed him by the cut to haul him off her. "Just beautiful."

Jax gave him a little shove just to put some more distance between them with a grin on his handsome face. "Alright, alright. Don't get so handsy with our lawyer, bro. Only one of us in this room gets to do that, and it sure as hell ain't you."

Tig's hands flew up in the air, but Allie was already preoccupied by Bobby, who wrapped his arms around her in a much gentler, more respectful embrace.

"Congratulations, guys," Allie laughed as Opie pulled her in for a big bear hug.

Chibs even surprised her by wrapping her in a quick, side-arm hug, but that was a pretty good start, considering he'd mostly kept his distance since Jax had told the club how his relationship with their lawyer had shifted.

And now, this was just one more step in the right direction. One more checkpoint the club needed to really start earning legitimately and muster up enough regular and consistent cash flow to justify getting out of guns for good.

Every day they got closer and closer to making that dream a reality.

Jax knew it too, and he didn't hesitate to slide his hands around her hips the first opportunity he got.

"Nice work, baby," he murmured in her ear. "That guy was a real prick, but you handled him like the absolute pro you are."

"Thank you," Allie grinned back at him as he ushered her out of that conference room, draping an arm around her shoulders to steer her where he wanted her to go.

But when the rest of the club went left to head for the exit, Jax steered her to the right.

"You guys don't have to hang around if ya don't want to," he called to them over his shoulder. "I'm just gonna make sure our lawyer makes it back to her office okay."

Tig was already sprinting down the hallway to try to catch another glimpse of some filming, while Opie rolled his eyes up to the ceiling, but nobody protested, and nobody questioned them either. The meeting was officially over, which meant they could all go their separate ways if they needed to. And judging by the way Jax hustled her down the opposite end of the hallway, and right in the direction of her office, he definitely had something else in mind other than heading back to the clubhouse.

"What does the rest of your afternoon look like, baby?" he murmured in her ear, his arm still draped around her shoulders, but he picked up the pace a little bit too.

"Well," she laughed breathlessly. "I have to be on a call in about 20 minutes."

"No problem."

"And I think Piper is still on break for about another 15 minutes."

He shot her a roguish grin. "I can work with that."

"Can't wait until we get home, huh?"

Jax's lips parted to respond, but right as they passed her dad's office door, that door just happened to open as Jimmy and Gemma stumbled through the doorway. There was barely time to register the fact that her dad's salt and pepper hair was more than a little rumbled, or that Gemma was _still_ straightening her Harley Davidson shirt because Jax just steered her down the hallway with a one-track mind.

"Hey, guys," Gemma called out in greeting, but Jax just threw her a wave from over his shoulder.

Then she felt his warm lips on her ear again: "If I've only got 15 minutes right now, I'm not wasting a second of it on those two."

She barely got a chance to laugh before Jax swore under his breath at the next distraction heading right for them. No matter how many times she'd seen Dan strut around the studio's hallways in costume, she _still_ never really got used to it - today, he happened to be wearing those little boxing shorts that had quickly become a staple around the studio, and he also happened to be bronzed and greased and ready to film, right along with his husband, who was walking right next to him.

Dan grinned brightly as they passed each other, waving with a glint in his dark eyes that Allie wasn't quite sure she liked.

"Hi, Alexandra!" he called out to them. "Hey, friend! Where are you two crazy kids off to, huh?"

"No time to talk, bro," Jax jumped in before Allie even had a shot. "We'll see ya later!"

"Hey," Dan stalled in the hallway with his hands on his hips. "You still comin' over to our place tomorrow night for dinner?"

"Absolutely, bro!"

Instead of giving her the chance to chime in, Jax just kept right on ushering her down the hall, but she still managed to throw an apologetic grin over her shoulder as Dan batted a hand their way. But she was also _pretty_ sure she heard Dan singing, and pretty off-key too, " _Gonna find my baby, gonna hold her tight…"_

Jax gritted his teeth in frustration, and he picked up the pace, hustling them the rest of the way until they skidded to a stop in front of her office. She barely got the door open before he shoved it shut behind them, whirling her around and pinning her against the door. Their mouths crashed into each other as his fingers slipped up her thighs to prop her up so she could hook a leg around his waist. When his tongue slipped inside her parted mouth, she sighed against his lips and shivered when his fingertips skimmed up the side of her leather skirt, gripping the fabric to slide it up and over her hips.

His calloused fingertips splayed around her ass, jerking her hips back so he could grind himself between her legs, groaning into her mouth. Then he slipped a hand around, letting it travel alongside her hip until his index finger dipped dangerously inside her panties.

Allie pressed her head against the door, sighing at the sweet torture, and spurring him on to brush his fingertip against the slick skin he found inside her panties.

"Jesus," he muttered hoarsely against her lips. "So goddamn wet."

"Just for you," she whispered.

His eyes darkened, his jaw clenching as he pressed two fingertips against her skin, moving them up and down and sending her flying to new heights, but she knew they were also working with limited time right now.

Jax swallowed hard, and he pushed out a rough breath as she unbuckled his belt, unzipped his fly, pushed his jeans and his boxer briefs down to his ankles, and dropped to her knees. As her lips slipped over him, he released one low, deep groan and she couldn't stop herself from smiling around him, her eyes drifting up to watch as he folded his hands behind his back. Her head dipped even lower as her neck moved her lips up and down as she swirled her tongue around him until he'd finally had enough, gripping her by the shoulders to pull her back up to her feet.

His lips crashed into her mouth as he backed her up again. Then he tore away to meet her in the eye, his blue eyes pinning through her, hooded with desire and pent-up frustration, like he had an itch that needed to be scratched and the only way to scratch it was to pin her against this door until her eyes rolled back in her head.

"What do you want me to do, Allie?" he asked her hoarsely, his eyes darkening with a dangerous glint that just made more heat pool between her legs.

She didn't hesitate. "I want you to make me come."

Jax's chest heaved at her words and his lips curled with a new sensuality that hadn't quite been there before. His nostrils flared as he stepped in between her legs and lifted her up to prop her body against the door, pushing her skirt up to her hips again.

His warm breath kissed her neck, and then, as he twirled some of her hair around his hand and gave it a gentle tug, he murmured in a tight voice, "You'll come when I say you can come."

On reflex, she wrapped her arms around his neck, ready to cling to him for dear life as he slipped inside her. He knew exactly what he was doing - knew just what she liked, how fast to go, how to angle his hips with just the right amount of pressure, and when to up his speed. Her head fell back as he swept her away into the waves. It was the best kind of falling, this black hole that she never wanted to crawl out of. Could they just stay here like this forever with her legs wrapped around his waist, pressed into the door, and him buried deep inside her?

Jax pulled his head back so he could look her square in the eye, new determination and fascination clouding his blue eyes as he watched her take what he was giving her. She couldn't look away from him if she tried. And then, when his hips jerked against her, his eyes flashed as her lips parted in ecstasy. He only needed to pump inside her two more times before she was right there, on the brink of tumbling over the edge.

His mouth curved in anticipation, and with his eyes still locked on her face, he leaned in to murmur against her lips, "Come for me, baby."

Her whole body stiffened as everything exploded around her, rolling down to her toes, arching her back off the door, jerking her hips against his waist, barely cognizant of the fact that he'd buried his face in her neck and trembled around her with his own release. This was it. The rest of her life, right here in this office. She'd never get enough of this. Would never be able to go a day without having this, without having him tucked in between her legs, pressing against her, filling her anyway he wanted to.

"Fucking beautiful," Jax breathed against her lips. His mouth curled around her, drinking her in, consuming her, and he whispered: "I'm gonna marry you someday."

She laughed breathlessly and gave herself a moment to calm down a little, smiling as he tucked some stray hair behind her ear. "Oh yeah?"

"Oh yeah," he flashed her a grin. "You're my ride or die, baby."

"That's good to hear because someday, I'm gonna marry you too."

His lips curled into a sexy smirk, and his navy blue eyes glowed with love, devotion, and promise.

"Someday, baby. Someday."

**THE END.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - In writing this last chapter, I thought a lot about how far Jax and Allie have come since the first chapter, both individually and as a couple. This just seemed like the perfect ending (for now!) because it brings them full circle and gives us a look at how things are going to be between them and with the club now. Given how they started, this also felt like the perfect bookend to the story. They've come a long way, and their bond is unbreakable now. They're partners in every way, and it felt right to end on that note, and show how their professional and personal relationships are able to co-exist.
> 
> All that being said, I don't have any immediate plans for a sequel, although I'd love to write a four or five-parter that shows them getting engaged, married, and have a baby. I don't want to write a sequel just to write one, mainly because things are so good and so solid between them - it just doesn't make sense to try to mess with that just for the sake of a sequel, you know? Since I'm working on Lost & Found and another story that will take Fly By Night's Wednesday posting slot (it's called 12 Rounds, and I'm so excited to start sharing it soon!), I probably will not get to this extended epilogue for a little while, but I will always keep you posted!
> 
> I started writing this story in July of last year because I was bored in quarantine and because I just couldn't find any Jax/OC stories that sparked my interest, I decided to write the one I wanted to read. I had no expectations, and definitely no idea it would catch on the way it has, and I'm so happy that this story has done for you what it did for me - we've all needed a distraction lately, and what is fanfiction for if not to let us live in another world for a while with characters we know and love? I wrote stories on this site about ten years ago now under a different penname, and writing this story has really rekindled my love for writing. Now I can't stop! I can't wait to introduce my new story to you in a few weeks. I still have more work to do before I'm in a place where I can start posting, but until then, I'll keep you updated on that story's progress in my author notes for Lost & Found.
> 
> I can't wait to hear your last thoughts on this last look at Jax and Allie. If you haven't commented before now, I think now is a good time to start!
> 
> To everyone who's read this, thank you so much. It was an absolute joy to write, even through the blood, sweat, and tears that came with writing some of these chapters - I don't regret it for a second ;)


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